Socrates said, “The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know”. This is how I feel when it comes to learning Kanji. Though I’m Japanese and have been using Kanji for the past few decades, every now and then I make new discoveries and fascinating finds in the world of Kanji. We’ve been talking about children on this blog, so I thought it would be appropriate to share what I found recently.
First of all, this is the Kanji for children: “子” (By the way, this Kanji also represents something small or cute)
You can separate this Kanji into two parts.
The first part is “一”, which means first, beginning, or number one.
The other is “了”, which means the end.
So the Kanji for child represents a beginning as well as an end. Children often remind us of how life begins, and at the same time how short life can be and someday we all have to face the end.
“子” is also the Kanji for the year of rat in the twelve zodiac symbols. Interestingly enough, the year of rat marks the beginning of the circle. Some might agree that rats are small or even cute. Walt Disney knew how we feel about rats and mice when he came up with Mickey Mouse. Many years later, Disney is still going strong with the kids in Japan. Perhaps there is some kanji magic there.
Here are some Kanji quizzes for you. Can you guess what these mean?
1. 孫
There is 子 on the left side and 系 (lineage, connected thread) on the other. In your family’s lineage, your child is related to different people in different ways. The answer lies in one of these relationships.
2. 学
It looks like child “子” is wearing a crown. What would a kid have to do to be King of Knowledge?
“子” is one of the simplest Kanji we use, yet its meaning is so deep.
By the way, 孫 means grandkids and学 means learning. Now you can teach your grandkids some kanji.
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