Sinograph Addenda · Signs

lord

Where it comes from

A hand holding the staff of office — the element that alone means “to govern” — set over a mouth issuing the commands: the classic account of rulership drawn in two strokes of authority. In the Analects the compound , “lord’s son,” is remade into the book’s hero: the person noble by conduct. Taught in the verbless-sentence chapter.

How to remember it

A staff in the hand, an order in the mouth: the lord.

In the wild

器。jūn zǐ bù qì"the lord's son is not a vessel" — the noble person refuses to be a mere implement
Analects 2.12. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0004:002:13a · license: attribution.