Kanji Mastery—Radical 139 (色 Color)

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[a] Winding color RF

You might think that a radical that goes by the name of "color" would have a brilliant array of character combinations associated with it—a veritable kaleidoscope of changing language images. It does...sort of. There are two page-long columns of combinations for the modest graph 色, and they even stretch well onto a third. As you will see below, they run the gamut from one-to-one synonym combinations (色糸; colored thread) to especially vibrant stretches of juxtaposition (色男; paramour).

[b] Hue-cry RF

On the other hand, this character has not spawned much of a brood when it comes to language family. It is as though the racy definitions (just take a look below if you doubt this) for this simple, six-stroke character* have sapped its very vitality. Like the protagonist of a famous Chinese novel—Ximen Qing—色 has a pathetic little brood. The only character that boasts 色 as its linguistic parent is the legitimate but only-child 艶. You will see its kinship linkage on the right side of the character. That's it, though. This character element apparently never read (or misunderstood) Richard Dawkins, and cast its seeds widely without almost anything coming to fruition. 

*Follow these brief steps: a) "copy" the character 色  b) click on the stroke order link here, c) paste 色 into the search box and click "get diagram."

[c] Harmonizing RF

This is truly one of the few places in the Sino-Japanese lexicon in which the parent is wildly talented, diverse, and successful—with enormous influence in the larger society—yet has a pretty paltry record back at the ol' homestead. Imagine this little language scene. When the parent comes home from a busy day of dressing colorfully (色尽くめ) and harmonizing the colors (色の調和) of the world, s/he sees this picture. There, a single, charming figure (艶姿) sits alone before the frosted glass (艶消し硝子) of the hearth, holding a polishing cloth (艶布巾) while rubbing and polishing (艶拭きする) the fixtures with a beaming countenance (艶色). In the distance, a street troubadour (艶歌師) sings a love tale (艶物) of woe about a parent without fortune in love (艶福) who has given its child a remarkably paltry inheritance.

色 is a lot like that.

[d] Sensual RF

Etymology for 色

Character Information for 色

色

Radical 139

Chinese (Mandarin): se4 (shai3, she4)
Chinese (Cantonese): sik1

Japanese (On): ショク、シキ SHOKU, SHIKI
Japanese (Kun): いろ iro
Korean: 빛 색
 

Selections from The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary.

色 Radical 139

[e] Threads RF

Iro color. Nickname: Color.

SHOKU, SHIKI color.
Iro color, tint, tinge; complexion; countenance, look; sensual pleasure; sweetheart; charms; fall colors; embellishment; slight concession; kind.
Iro(meku) color, be tinged, liven, become active, be stirred; begin to waver (in battle).
Iro(zuku) color, color up.  Iro(ppoi), iro(mekashii) amorous, fascinating, seductive.

That's a handful, to say the least, and it is only the "header" definition. What follows is no fewer than eighty-five combinations with 色 beginning the word. We will start by definitions that deal straightforwardly with various colors of meaning before shading into more subtle definitions below.

色白　いろじろ       irojiro         light complexion; white     (color+white)

色止　いろどめ       irodo(me)  color fixing                         (color+stop)
色分　いろわけ       irowa(ke)   coloring; classfication        (color+part)
色灯　しきとう       shikitou      colored lamp                     (color+lantern)
色絵　いろえ           iroe            color picture                      (color+image)
色絹　いろぎぬ       iroginu       colored silk                        (color+silk thread)
色摺　いろずり       irozuri        color printing                      (color+rub/print)   
         and
色様々の　いろさまざまの   irosamazama   multicolored  (color+same-same)

O.k. Those are some of the basic combinations. Let's add a little bit of love, dislike, and sensuality to the mix. Take a look at how these combinations contrast with those above.

色好　いろごのみ       irogono(mi)       sensuality, lust              (love+attraction)
色目　いろめ              irome                amorous glance            (love+eye)
色里　いろざと          irozato               red-light district             (love+place)
色事　いろごと          irogoto               love affair/scene           (love+affair/matter)
色恋　いろこい          irokoi                 love, sentiment              (love+in love)
色道　しきどう          shikidou            sexual passion               (love+road)
色情　しきじょう      shikijyou            sexual passion; lust       (love+passion)
色話　いろばなし      irobanashi         love story; love talk        (love+talk)
色敵　いろがたき      irogataki            love rival                         (love+enemy)
色慾　しきよく         shikiyoku           sexual passion; lust        (love+lust)
色魔　しきま             shikima             libertine, philanderer       (love+demon)

[f] Chromatic RF

If you worked your way through the list, you surely saw that "color" shades into love...and more...in this word set. Remember that I have only given you a small sense of the range of words associated with 色. There are many more "color" words (such as dyed leather, 色革) and "love" phrases (such as sex mania, 色狂). Let's finish our look at combinations with even further distances beyond the love colors of this character. We'll look at a set of two- and three-character phrases that push the meaning a little further.


色消し　　いろけしな     iroke(shi/shina)   achromatism; prosaic  (color+erase)
色気違い　いろきちがい irokichiga(i)         sex mania                    (love+air+contravene)
色収差　　いろしゅうさ irosyuusa     chromatic abberation   (color+receive+difference)
色気付く　いろけずく      irokezu(ku)        arrive at puberty          (love+air+deliver)
色眼鏡　　いろめがね      iromegane        colored glasses; prejudice  (color+glasses)
色盛り　　いろざかり      irozaka(ri)         female maturity            (love+abundance)
色即是空　しきこぜくう  shikigozekuu     the vanity of all things
This last phrase is a quintessentially Buddhist concept used in a wide variety of works throughout Japanese history. The characters denote a kind of chromatic/love vacuity that indicts everything (by extension) from elaborate dress and coiffure to sexual passion and even the love of worldly things.

***  ***

After all of that, however, there are exactly two characters in which 色 is radical. Two, and one of those is a variant form...of the other one. In other words, there is one character (beyond 色 itself) with this radical. Here "it“ is. This character appears in many combinations relating to "love speech," such as love letter (艶文), love talk (艶言), and love rumor (艶聞), to name just a few.

艶　エン     EN     Luster, glaze, polish; charm. Many indigenous Japanese words are 
                               also associated with this character, such as nama(meku) to be 
                               charming, colorful, and of excellent quality.
艷　エン     EN     Traditional form of the character above.

[g] Vibrant RF

Hurtin', Leavin' and Longin' (37)—She's Gone, Gone, Gone

Click here to read the introduction to the Round and Square series "Hurtin', Leavin', and Longin'..." 

[a] Leftgone RF

Right out of left field...she's gone.

Lefty (Frizzell) has his own take on the matter. She said if (he) ever deceived her, she'd be gone. He guesses that he didn't believe her...because look at the trouble he's in. Take a look at how done gone she is.

She's Gone, Gone, Gone 2:19

He's lost every right to be happy...'cause she left before one tear hit the ground.

[b] Gone RF

Yup, we're heading back into the territory of misery after several weeks of relative respite (a little irony here and a bit of temporal and spatial nostalgia there). Now, we're sad again. She's gone. The only interesting question (his deceivin' probably ain't all that interestin') is why these songs tend to be so gendered. In the history of country music, the scales start to tilt a little from about 1995 onward, but let's not kid ourselves. Except for Hank Williams and his liver-wriggling, heart-rending despair over Audrey, as well as a few other songs, it is men who do the lyrical deceivin'—who sing of their follies, and who aim for the forgiveness of lover...and audience.

This raises my feminist hackles.

Why does it take until the mid-1990s to find an "I am woman, watch me...screw up too" song? Well, partly because anyone who has lived for a decade or so of adulthood knows that men tend to goof things up in this regard a good deal more often than women. Or maybe I'm just thinking about American politics. Whether that will continue to be the case is a somewhat open question, and the projected answer lies more closely with the interpreter's biological, sociological, or theological approach. I am smart enough not to venture an answer here...except to say that it ain't all biology (got that, troglodytes?)...

What bothers me here is the subtext (very common in country music) that it all just sorta happened. He was wrong, but it all happened...so fast. He's just a biological creature, and life just sort of took off when he wasn't looking.

[c] Cold RF

Sorry, John Edwards. That just doesn't cut it.

To Lefty's relative credit here, he emphasizes the swiftness, if not ferocity, of his love's judgment. It is rather refreshing to hear that she was out the door before the count of ten, and that she ain't comin' back. Anthony Wiener could have used just such a thunderbolt.

The political roll call from this point onward would take the rest of this post, but I'll just mention Wilbur Mills. I couldn't resist showing my age here, but I was just a shocked kid in 1974 who had never heard of people named Fanne and Wilbur before. I read the news and thought it was trainwrecked page from Charlotte's Web rather than a congressional story of deceivin'.

So, how hard is it going to be to find East Asian lyrics focusing on male screw-ups and the comeuppance they deserve when they are discovered? This should be child's play (of an older-than-one's age sort). Nope. It is surprisingly difficult to find lyrics that tear at the inner tendons of the patriarchal narrative. "I done screwed up and our life's wrecked now" themes are not terribly common in the literature of China, Japan, and Korea. I will save for another post my post-feminist diatribe about why that might be. For now, however, I will simply note that men in China (and Japan and Korea) enjoyed a bit of poetic respite from the tougher questions about their extra-familial relations.

There were not too many Lefty Frizzell's in early-modern China.

[d] Mirror RF

With that in mind, we'll take a look at one of the seedier subplots in the classical Ming dynasty narrative Jin Ping Mei (The Plum in the Golden Vase). It is not an uplifting story in the least. Sorry. On the other hand, it turns Lefty's tale on its patriarchal head...for a while...in a thoroughly confusing and exhilarating narrative of patri-phony. This is the beginning of a cheatin' tale like no other ever told. You will have to read the entire one-hundred chapters of the five-volume novel for the whole story, but this is its amorous seed(y).

The Plum in the Golden Vase 金瓶梅  
Sixteenth Century
Taking hold of Hsi-men Ch'ing by the sleeve, with one tug [Dame Wang] pulled him into the room where, addressing himself to the woman, she said, "this is the very gentleman who as kind enough to bring the materials to me."

Hsi-men Ch'ing opened his eyes wide and took a good look at the woman.

          Her cloudy locks rose up like serried hills;
          Her fair countenance evoked an air of spring.

She was wearing a white linen blouse with a peach red skirt and a blue vest as she sat there in the room, working on her sewing. When she saw Hsi-men Ch'ing come in, she lowered her head.

Hsi-men quickly stepped forward and mader her a bow as he uttered a word of greeting. The woman put down her work and returned his salutation. Dame Wang then said, "It was rare generosity on this gentleman's part to give me these bolts of pongee and damask. They've been sitting at home for over a year now without my having time to get them made up. I'm greatly indebted to this young lady, my next-door neighbor, who has volunteered her services in making them up for me. Her needlework is as regular as any turned out of a loom, it's so close and fine. Such a thing is rarely to be seen. Just come take a look at it sir...

...By the time they had finished their tea they were already exchanging meaningful glances. Dame Wang looked at Hsi-men Ch'ing and stroked her cheek with a finger. Hsi-men Ch'ing understood that five-tenths of the glow game had already been achieved. It's always been true that:
          Romantic affairs are consummated over tea, and
          Wine is the go-between of lust.

[e] Towering RF

NEXT
Sunday, January 29th
Big John
We keep looking for different aspects of sad in these Sunday Hurtin' posts. This is a big, strong, selfless, kind of misery, and it will haunt us next week on Hurtin', Leavin', and Longin'.