器

器 U+FA38, 器 CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-FA38 ← 嘆 CJK Compatibility Ideographs 塀 →

Translingual

Alternative forms

• In all regions except Japan, the middle component is written 犬, which is the orthodox form found in the Kangxi dictionary.
• In Japanese shinjitai, the middle component is written 大 instead of 犬 (the upper right dot is missing). Due to Han unification, both forms are encoded using the same code point. This character may appear to be different depending on the font used.
• A CJK compatibility ideograph exists at U+FA38 for the kyūjitai form of 器 which has 犬 as the middle component.
• Another character, 𠾖 (U+20F96) exists for the historical form found in the Ming dynasty 《直音篇》 Chinese dictionary which is similar to Japanese shinjitai.

Han character

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

器 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+13 in Chinese and Korean, 口+12 in Japanese, 16 strokes in Chinese and Korean, 15 strokes in Japanese, cangjie input 口口戈大口 (RRIKR), four-corner 6666₃, composition ⿱哭吅(GHTKV) or ⿳吅大吅(J))

Derived characters

• 𮣦, 𢻪, 𣀬, 𥀴, 𤼅, 𥷇, 𩆮, 𬑀

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 210, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 4349
• Dae Jaweon: page 432, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 690, character 7
• Unihan data for U+5668

• Unihan data for U+FA38

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 器
Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Uncertain.

Possibly an ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : a 犬 (“dog”) guarding four 口 (“vessel”) – containers, or a phonetically borrowed character for the modern meanings with the original meaning being “to bark” (Compare 狺).

Pronunciation

Definitions

器

1. device; tool; utensil; ware

   器具  ―  qìjù  ―  utensil

   • 子曰：「君子不器。」 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐyuē: “Jūnzǐ bù qì.”

     The Master said: "The gentleman is not a utensil."

   • 子貢問為仁。子曰：「工欲善其事，必先利其器。居是邦也，事其大夫之賢者，友其士之仁者。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子贡问为仁。子曰：「工欲善其事，必先利其器。居是邦也，事其大夫之贤者，友其士之仁者。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐ Gòng wèn wèirén. Zǐyuē: “Gōng yù shàn qí shì, bì xiān lì qí qì. Jū shì bāng yě, shì qí dàfū zhī xián zhě, yǒu qí shì zhī rén zhě.”

     Zi Gong asked about the practice of virtue. The Master said, "The artisan, who wishes to do his work well, must first sharpen his tools. When you are living in any state, take service with the most worthy among its great officers, and make friends of the most virtuous among its scholars."

2. (medicine, biology) organ

   器官  ―  qìguān  ―  organ

3. capacity; tolerance

   器量  ―  qìliàng  ―  tolerance

   • 子曰：「管仲之器小哉！」 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐyuē: “Guǎn Zhòng zhī qì xiǎo zāi!”

     The Master said, "Small indeed was the capacity / tolerance of Guan Zhong!"

4. talent; ability

   大器晚成  ―  dàqìwǎnchéng  ―  A great talent takes time to mature.

   • 子曰：「君子易事而難說也：說之不以道，不說也；及其使人也，器之。小人難事而易說也：說之雖不以道，說也；及其使人也，求備焉。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「君子易事而难说也：说之不以道，不说也；及其使人也，器之。小人难事而易说也：说之虽不以道，说也；及其使人也，求备焉。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Zǐyuē: “Jūnzǐ yì shì ér nán yuè yě: yuè zhī bù yǐ dào, bù yuè yě; jí qí shǐ rén yě, qì zhī. Xiǎorén nán shì ér yì yuè yě: yuè zhī suī bù yǐ dào, yuè yě; jí qí shǐ rén yě, qiú bèi yān.”

     The Master said, "The superior man is easy to serve and difficult to please. If you try to please him in any way which is not accordant with right, he will not be pleased. But in his employment of men, he uses them according to their capacity / ability. The mean man is difficult to serve, and easy to please. If you try to please him, though it be in a way which is not accordant with right, he may be pleased. But in his employment of men, he wishes them to be equally competent to everything."

5. ^† to think highly of

   器重  ―  qìzhòng  ―  to regard highly

   • 朝廷器之。 [Literary Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE

     Cháotíng qì zhī.

     The Court thought highly of him.

Synonyms

• (device):

• (organ): 器官 (qìguān)
• (to think highly of):

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• Korean: 그릇 (geureut, “receptacle; bowl; capacity; tolerance”) (Pan, 2006)

References

• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00696
• “器”, 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–

Japanese

Shinjitai	器
Kyūjitai	器 器 or 器+︀?
	器󠄁 器+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
	器󠄃 器+󠄃? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

(grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 器)

Readings

• Go-on: き (ki, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: き (ki, Jōyō)
• Kun: うつわ (utsuwa, 器, Jōyō)^{←うつは (utufa, 器, historical)}
• Nanori: かた (kata)

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 器 (khij^H, “vessel; instrument”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• When used as a suffix, the resulting term has a downstep either right before, or one mora before, the ki.

• If the preceding syllable has only one mora (as in ga or tsu), the downstep occurs just after that mora:

瓦器 (“unglazed earthenware”): が​き

空気予熱器 (kūki yonetsuki, “air pre-heater”): くうきよねつ​き

• If the preceding syllable has two morae (as in zen or tei), the downstep occurs between the two morae:

安全器 (anzenki, “safety cut-out”): あんぜ​んき

円弧測定器 (enko sokuteiki, “cyclometer”): えんこそくて​いき

Affix

器(き) • (ki) 

1. device; instrument
2. container; vessel

Usage notes

Often used interchangeably with 機 (ki) in compounds to indicate “machine”, with the subtlety that 器 implies a smaller device, perhaps hand-held, while 機 implies a larger machine, such as an airplane. Compare 食器 (shokki, “tableware”) and 飛行機 (hikōki, “airplane”), or homophones 機械 (kikai, “machine”, generally larger) and 器械 (kikai, “machine, tool”, generally smaller).

Derived terms

Suffix

器(き) • (-ki) 

1. device; instrument

Usage notes

Can attach to various nouns that can be used as verbs, to indicate a device for carrying out the action. Examples:

• 計量 (keiryō, “measurement, measuring, gauging”) + 器 (-ki) = 計量器 (keiryōki, “a measuring device, a gauge”)
• 尿 (nyō, “urine”) + 器 (-ki) = 尿器 (nyōki, “urinal”)
• 印字 (inji, “print, type”, literally “stamp + character”) + 器 (-ki) = 印字器 (injiki, “a printer”, a smaller device, such as a handheld number and letter puncher)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

/ut͡supa/ → /ut͡suɸa/ → /ut͡suwa/

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 空 (utsuo, ancient utsupo, utsubo), signifying a hollowness. Appears to be a compound of 空, 内 (utsu, “hollow”, combining form, standalone form uchi, “inside”) + は (ha). The derivation of this ha element is unclear.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うつわ (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

器(うつわ) • (utsuwa) ^{←うつは (utufa)?}

1. container, vessel
2. a tool, a utensil
3. one's degree of ability: talent, calibre

   会長(かいちょう)の器(うつわ)ではない

   kaichō no utsuwa de wa nai

   not president material

4. female genitalia: a vagina

Synonyms

Derived terms

• 器(うつわ)物(もの) (utsuwamono): a container; ability, talent; a musical instrument

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 器 (MC khijH).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

器

Wikisource

器 (eumhun 그릇 기 (geureut gi))

1. Hanja form^? of 기 (“device; instrument”).
2. Hanja form^? of 기 (“container; vessel”).

Compounds

References

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

Vietnamese

Han character

器: Hán Nôm readings: khí

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

References

• Nom Foundation