Sinograph Addenda · Signs

在be-at · zài · to be at, be present in; at

be-at

Where it comes from

A sprout breaking ground — the element 才, which also lends the sound — set over earth 土earth · tǔ · earth, soil; the ground: the classic build for presence, a thing rooted where it stands. It is the classical verb of location: X 在be-at · zài · to be at, be present in; at Y says X is at Y, and the Great Learning opens by planting it three times in a row. Taught in the having-and-lacking chapter.

How to remember it

A seedling in the soil: to be at a place is to be planted there.

In the wild