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Analysis and history of 求 and 裘

要求 yōkyū demand; desire
求職 kyūshoku job hunting
探求する tankyū suru investigate

Some scholars take earlier forms like and as a plant with visible roots.¹ In this view the same plant can be seen in (modern 奏) which shows the plant being offered with two hands. In ancient times plants often figured in rituals, specifically rituals where favors were being asked. This allows for the interpretation that 求/ got its meaning of seek not as a direct representation (i.e. a plant), but as a symbol for the act of the ritual in which it was used: seeking help from the gods.² An alternative theory identifies the original shape of 求 as a multi-legged insect, and assumes that 求 was borrowed for its sound.³

Mnemonic: offer a plant in a request

The layout of the box above follows the style of an entry in Henshall’s 1988 book.⁴
1. Until recently scholars judged 求 to be a depiction of animal fur, based on the assumption that 求 was the protoform of 裘 (fur clothing). However, 求 functions in 裘 purely as phonetic, only lending its sound (Ochiai, 2014:222-223). More on this below.
2. Ochiai, 2014:224.
3. MFCCD writes that in oracle bone script and bronze script 求 has the shape of a multi-legged insect, and is the protoform of , referencing Táng Lán 唐蘭 and Qiú Xīguī 裘錫圭 (accessed November 2024). Outlier (accessed November 2024) states the same, but references Huáng Dékuān 黃德寬.
4. This is a revision of Henshall’s entry on 求.

Verbose explanation and references

For a long time the standard explanation for 求 has been that it is the earlier form (protoform) of 裘 “fur clothing”. In its earliest known form it would have expressed the meaning of “fur” or “fur clothing” pictographically. In this explanation at a somewhat later stage 求 was borrowed for its sound to express the meanings “to seek for, to ask for”. More or less at the same time a new graph 裘 was created to carry the original meaning of “fur clothing” through adding the signific clothing 衣 to the original 求 for clarification.

This is a common enough scenario, but in this instance it doesn’t seem to fit, because it persuaded scholars to group together graphs that look very different. Take a look at the variant forms that Katō et al. display in their entry for 求.

〔契文〕
〔金文〕
〔篆文〕  
〔古文〕  
(Katō et al., 1983:348;) [image source]

Katō et al. use the term 契文 keibun for 甲骨文字 kōkotsu moji (oracle bone inscriptions, short: OBI), the oldest known forms of the graphs. The first two OBI are different from the third. In the row for bronze inscriptions (金文 kinbun) the first looks like the first and the second OBI (except that a sign for hand seems to be inserted in the middle). The second and third of the bronze inscriptions look like the third OBI. Katō et al. explain these remarkable differences as alternating between “pictural representations of fur clothing” and “pictural representations of suspended fur”.¹

In the third row we see an example of a seal character. It consists of clothing 衣/, with the seal form inserted. Xǔ Shèn 許慎 (c. 58 – c. 148 CE) analyses this graph in his famous dictionary of graphical etymology as follows:

:皮衣也。从衣求聲。²
means fur clothing. It has 衣 with 求 as phonetic.

That means that according to Xǔ Shèn the function of 求 is to add a hint for the pronunciation of 裘. Qiú Xīguī explains the entire development of 裘 from OBI to seal.

(bone) (bronze) (bronze) (seal) ″裘″ qiú ″fur garment.″ The protoform of ″裘″ qiú ″fur garment″ was a pictograph; later the phonetic symbol ″又″ yòu was added. Still later the pictographic symbol that represented a fur garment was changed to the component ″衣″ ″clothing″ and it became an ordinary phonogram. Probably in order to accommodate a change in pronunciation, ″又″ was later changed to ″求″ qiú ″seek.″³

In other words, Qiú thinks also that 求 only comes along as a phonetic in building 裘. The OBI (a variant of clothing with strokes added to indicate fur) was the predecessor of 裘, but not of 求. Only the odd, supposedly “suspended” variants (like and) are likely to be the predecessors of 求.

According to Ochiai scholars confused and for a specific reason. I originates in a note that Xǔ Shèn added to his entry on 裘:

求,古文省衣。 As for 求, ancient writing omits 衣.⁴

Ochiai thinks that when Xǔ Shèn stated that the ancients wrote 裘 as 求, omitting the signific 衣 of contemporary usage, this meant that 求 was used only for its sound, as a loan graph. However, other scholars may have taken this as an indication that 求 was the protoform of 裘.⁵ All things considered, I think the viewpoints of Ochiai and Qiú are more plausible.

Looking at 求/ disentangled from instances of 裘/, we can see that both OBI and bronze inscriptions of 求 look not unlike 来/來 (a representation of wheat). Ochiai thinks that 求 is actually a variant of 来/來 that emphasizes its roots. Further, looking at how 求 is used in the earliest compound characters, like for example 奏, where 求 is being offered with two hands, and another graph (no equivalent modern form, see below) where 求 is being planted in the ground, Ochiai writes that it is valid to conclude that 求 on itself was used as a symbol for the religious act in which it was being offered and/or planted.

(impressions of OBI by Ochiai, showing 求 being offered and planted, Ochiai, 2014:223)

Unfortunately, while recent research seems to agree that 求 is not the protoform of 裘 but simply a phonetic that at some point came along, there might still be disagreement about which early forms in oracle bone inscriptions correspond to 求. Both MFCCD and Outlier write that OBI like are the protoform of 求. According to this line of research, 求 originally represented a multi-legged insect, with the later meanings being loan usage.⁶

However, Ochiai identifies as the protoform of 祟.⁷

Since Ochiai uses streamlined renderings of old characters it is difficult to decide which oracle bone script characters he claims. However, it seems that bronze script characters like are used in both theories.

In any case, there is no consensus about the early shapes and meanings of 求. Ochiai sees 求 going back to a representation of a plant being used in a ritual context that connects to its later meanings. Other scholars seem to think 求 represents a multi-legged insect en propose that the graph 求 was loaned for its sound to write an unrelated word.

Concluding remarks

The graph 来/來 (depicting wheat) was simply borrowed for its sound to convey an ancient Chinese word meaning “to come”. Some scholars think 求 was also borrowed for its sound. Ochiai thinks it depicted a plant and was used as a symbol for the expression to seek help from the gods.


Mnemonics

In its modern form 求 doesn’t look a lot like a plant any more (although it does resemble possibly related 来/來 still somewhat). Henshall creates a mnemonic by comparing 求 to 水 (water) (but adds a confusing reference to fur).⁸ For alternative mnemonics, how about:


Notes

1. More specifically Katō et al. write: “The OBI are pictural representations of fur clothing. The bronze and the ancient writings are pictural representations of suspended fur.” (契文は、毛皮の衣(裘)の象形字である。金文と古文は、毛皮を釣り下げた象形字である。1983:348-349). This suggests a transition from OBI to bronze inscriptions that does not fit with the examples they themselves give, because these show variation within the sets of OBI and bronze inscriptions separately as well (see xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/jinwen?kaiOrder=633>.
2. Note that Xǔ Shèn always starts his entries with the seal form of a graph, not with the contemporary forms that make up the rest of his text. Modern impressions of his work do not always follow this rule for practical reasons.
3. Qiú, 2000:222. My emphasis.
4. Xǔ Shèn 許慎. See www.shuowenjiezi.com/result4.php?id=5349>.
5. 『説文解字』の「裘」の項には、仮借の用法で「求」だけの字体の古文が挙げられており、そのため誤解が生じた。 (Ochiai, 2011:183).
6. MFCCD (accessed November 2024) name Táng lán 唐蘭 and Qiú Xīguī 裘錫圭 but fail to give the work in which their research is published. Outlier (accessed November 2024) references Huáng Dékuān 黃德寬 for the work 古文字譜系疏證 (Gǔwénzì pǔxì shū zhèng) [Explanations and Evidence for the Genealogy of Ancient Characters]. 北京:商務印書館, 2007.
7. Ochiai, 2016, pp. 320-321; Ochiai, 2022, pp. 183-185.
8. Henshall:455
9. Triggered by the memory of Anyanka’s words in the crypt scene, episode 9 from season 4 of the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (00:36:04).

References

First published: Monday 10 July 2017.
Modified: Wednesday 20 November 2024.

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