Sinograph Addenda · Signs

上

above

Nameabove
Readsshàng
Meansabove, upper; to ascend
Taught in01 · The order of strokes

Where it comes from

A short mark set above the baseline: aboveness, pointed at. With 下 it forms the script’s neatest pair — one gesture, flipped. Taught in the strokes chapter.

How to remember it

The ground line, and something above it. Flip the page upside down and you have written its opposite.

In the wild

木上有水,井。mù shàng yǒu shuǐ, jǐng"wood with water above: the Well" — the Changes' image of the well-sweep, with 上 placing the water
Zhouyi, Image of hexagram Jing (the Well). urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1a0001:048:4a · license: attribution.