Sinograph Addenda · Signs

wind

Name	wind
Reads	fēng
Means	wind; air, influence
Taught in	15 · And so

Where it comes from

The outer shape lends the sound — an old sail-like sign — and inside sits an insect: the early dictionaries explain that wind is what quickens the bugs into life. From weather the word blew into metaphor: the “Airs” (風) are the Odes’ folk songs, and a lord’s 風 is the influence his example has on everyone downwind. Taught in the and-so chapter.

How to remember it

A sail bellied full, a little insect riding inside — the creature the old dictionaries said the wind quickens into life.

In the wild

風雨如晦。fēng yǔ rú huì"wind and rain, dark as night" — the Odes' storm, through which a rooster keeps crowing and a longed-for friend finally arrives; ever after, the phrase for grim times that decency outlasts.

Odes, "Wind and rain" (風雨). urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1c0001:007:89a · license: attribution.