Sinograph Addenda · Signs

eight

Name	eight
Reads	bā
Means	eight; (original sense) to divide
Taught in	04 · Counting the world

Where it comes from

Two strokes leaning away from each other — the classic account: this was the word “to divide,” and the picture is the dividing itself. The number borrowed the graph for good; “divide” carried on with a knife added underneath. Taught in the counting chapter.

How to remember it

Two strokes parting company — and eight is the number that splits cleanly, all the way down.

In the wild

八佾舞於庭，是可忍也，bā yì wǔ yú tíng, shì kě rěn yě"eight rows of dancers in his courtyard — if this can be borne…" — eight ranks of eight were the Son of Heaven's prerogative, and a mere clan chief has helped himself

Analects 3.1 — the saying finishes: "…what cannot be borne?" urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0004:003:1a · license: attribution.