Sinograph Addenda · Signs
一one · yī · one; whole, unified
one
Where it comes from
One stroke for one: nothing is drawn, everything is pointed
at. It is also the single most-written stroke of the script — the
horizontal that opens 大big · dà · big, great, 天heaven · tiān · sky; Heaven, the ordering power, 王king · wáng · king and hundreds more. Taught in
the strokes chapter
at the head of the number batch.
How to remember it
Lay one finger flat on the table. That is the whole character —
one, and the first stroke of half the script.
In the wild
道way · dào · way, road; the Way; to guide生grow · shēng · to grow, to be born; life一one · yī · one; whole, unified，一one · yī · one; whole, unified生grow · shēng · to grow, to be born; life二two · èr · two，二two · èr · two生grow · shēng · to grow, to be born; life三three · sān · three; several，三three · sān · three; several生grow · shēng · to grow, to be born; life萬myriad · wàn · ten thousand; myriad, countless物thing · wù · thing, creature; the things of the world。dào shēng yī, yī shēng èr, èr shēng sān, sān shēng wàn wù"the Way gives birth to one; one to two; two to three; three to the ten thousand things" — the most famous counting in Chinese literature
Laozi 42.
urn:nabu:kanripo:KR5c0057:042:1a · license: attribution.