商

Stroke order

商 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 卜金月口 (YCBR), four-corner 0022₇, composition ⿳亠丷冏)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 194, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3803
• Dae Jaweon: page 415, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 288, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5546

Historical forms of the character 商
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Many theories around the origin of this character exist.

• Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *hljaŋ): semantic 㕯 (“to speak slowly”) + phonetic 章 (OC *kjaŋ)， according to Xu Shen. The phonetic component is contracted. It originally conveyed the meaning of "to estimate the inside from outside." Later, it came to mean "to trade" or "to engage in commerce."^[1]

• Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) depicting placing and burning firewood (辛, here used as an abbreviation of 薪 (“firewood”)) on a pedestal (丙) to worship Antares. 口 was added later when this character started being used for the name of a dynasty.

The interpretation of a wine vessel on sale on a table is folk etymology.

Traditionally it is considered that 商人 (shāngrén) is so named because this term originally refers to people from Shang dynasty, who tend to do business.^[1]

From 賒 (OC *hljaː) plus terminative suffix *-ŋ (Schuessler, 2007). See there for further etymology.

商

1. trade; commerce; business

   • 商則有居善疾售之貨。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     商则有居善疾售之货。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE, translated based on Alfred Forke's version

     Shāng zé yǒu jū shàn jí shòu zhī huò.

     In commerce those sort of people manage to get excellent merchandise, which sells without delay.

2. businessman; dealer; trader; merchant

   • 使商無得糴，農無得糶。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     使商无得籴，农无得粜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Lord Shang, circa 3^rd century BCE, translated based on J.J.L. Duyvendak's version

     Shǐ shāng wúdé dí, nóng wúdé tiào.

     Do not allow merchants to buy grain nor farmers to sell grain.

   • 富家之商，必奪貧室之財。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     富家之商，必夺贫室之财。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE, translated based on Alfred Forke's version

     Fùjiā zhī shāng, bì duó pínshì zhī cái.

     Merchants of wealthy houses will certainly snatch away the property of poor families.

3. (mathematics) quotient

   6除以2的商是3。  ―  6 chúyǐ 2 de shāng shì 3.  ―  The quotient of 6 divided by 2 is 3.

4. (music) the second note in the Chinese pentatonic scale

   • 商者，張也，陰氣開張，陽氣始降也；……。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     商者，张也，阴气开张，阳气始降也；……。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Ban Gu, The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, 79 CE, translated based on Tjan Tjoe Som's version

     Shāng zhě, zhāng yě, yīnqì kāi zhāng, yángqì shǐ jiàng yě;.......

     Shāng means zhāng 'to expand'; the yin-fluid begins to expand the yang-fuild begins to contract; .

5. (～朝) Shang Dynasty
6. to discuss; to consult
7. (～宿) (Chinese astronomy) Alternative name for 心 (xīn, “Heart mansion (one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions)”).

• (Chinese pentatonic scale) 宮 / 宫 (gōng), 商 (shāng), 角, 徵 / 征, 羽

• “商”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00600

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kun: あきなう (akinau, 商う, Jōyō)^{←あきなふ (akinafu, 商ふ, historical)}
• Nanori: あき (aki)

• 農(のう)商(しょう) (nōshō): agriculture and commerce

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

商

Wikipedia ^ja

From Middle Chinese 商 (syang, “commerce”).

• (Tokyo) しょー (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

商(しょう) • (shō) ^{←しやう (syau)?}

1. dealing, dealer, merchant
2. (arithmetic) quotient

• 被(ひ)除(じょ)数(すう) (hijosū); 除(じょ)数(すう) (josū); 剰(じょう)余(よ) (jōyo)

15th century^[2] (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

商(あき) • (aki) 

1. (often in compounds) trade, the exchange of goods for goods, barter

   あきひと ― akihito ― a trader, person who trades

From Middle Chinese 商 (MC syang). Recorded as Middle Korean 샤ᇰ (syang) (Yale: syang) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

商

Wikisource

商 (eumhun 장사 상 (jangsa sang))

1. hanja form^? of 상 (“trade; commerce”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

商: Hán Nôm readings: thương

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.