Sinograph Addenda · Signs

become

Name	become
Reads	chéng
Means	to complete, become
Taught in	11 · Can, get, want

Where it comes from

A broad-bladed weapon-sign with 丁 — the nail of the tool-chapter — set inside as its sound-mark. The old accounts read it as the work brought to its last stroke: completed, achieved, become. Taught in the can-get-want chapter.

How to remember it

The broad frame is a blade; tucked inside it is 丁 the nail, lending its sound. The stroke that finishes the work: become.

In the wild

大器晚成。dà qì wǎn chéng"the great vessel is finished late" — big talents ripen slowly; the Laozi's comfort for late bloomers, now a proverb on its own.

Laozi 41. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR5c0057:041:1a · license: attribution.