Sinograph Addenda · Signs

first

Name	first
Reads	xiān
Means	first, ahead, before
Taught in	10 · If and then

Where it comes from

A foot over a walking man’s legs — one step out in front of the walker. The foot on top is the stop-foot 止 worn slant by centuries of copying. Taught in the if-and-then chapter.

How to remember it

A foot ahead of the man: first.

In the wild

先事後得。xiān shì hòu dé"the work first, the reward after" — Confucius' recipe for building character: do the job before you ask what it pays. Every character is taught

Analects 12.21, answering a question about piling up virtue. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0004:012:32a · license: attribution.