越鳧楚乙
Chinese
to exceed; to climb over; to surpass to exceed; to climb over; to surpass; the more ... the more |
wild duck; to swim | distinct; clear; orderly distinct; clear; orderly; pain; suffering; ancient place name; surname |
2nd heavenly stem | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (越鳧楚乙) | 越 | 鳧 | 楚 | 乙 | |
simp. (越凫楚乙) | 越 | 凫 | 楚 | 乙 | |
Literally: “Yue duck, Chu swallow”. |
Etymology
From a passage in the Book of Southern Qi. 乙 (yǐ) is an orthographic variant of 𠃉, more commonly written as 鳦/𱉇 (yǐ) today.
- 昔有鴻飛天首,積遠難亮。越人以爲鳧,楚人以爲乙。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Book of Southern Qi, by Xiao Zixian, 6th century CE
- Xī yǒu hóng fēi tiān shǒu, jī yuǎn nán liàng. Yuè rén yǐwèi fú, Chǔ rén yǐwèi yǐ. [Pinyin]
- In the past there was a swan flying towards the sky, but it was extremely far away and could not be seen easily. The people of Yue thought it was a duck, while the people of Chu thought it was a swallow.
昔有鸿飞天首,积远难亮。越人以为凫,楚人以为乙。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
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