Sinograph Addenda · Signs

非is-not · fēi · is not, it is not the case that; wrong

is-not

Where it comes from

Two wings spread back to back — turned away from each other; the stated account reads contrariety straight off the picture. Where 不not · bù · not — the plain negation negates a verb (“does not”), 非is-not · fēi · is not, it is not the case that; wrong negates a whole claim: 非is-not · fēi · is not, it is not the case that; wrong X, “it is not X, it is no X of yours” — and from “contrary to right” comes the sense wrong. Taught in the having-and-lacking chapter.

How to remember it

Wings flying apart: whatever you claimed, this is not it.

In the wild