幸

Stroke order

幸 (Kangxi radical 51, 干+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 土廿十 (GTJ), four-corner 4040₁, composition ⿱土𢆉)

• 倖, 㓑, 啈, 婞, 悻, 涬, 䁄, 䂔, 緈, 䛭, 𰵰
• 逹, 執, 報, 瓡, 㼬, 睪, 圉

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 341, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 9176
• Dae Jaweon: page 649, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 434, character 8
• Unihan data for U+5E78

Historical forms of the character 幸
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

Two kinds of glyph are found in Warring States era:

The glyph in Sanjin (三晉)

A compound of 犬 at left + 羊 at right.

• Dog and sheep are seen to bring luck (Zhao, 1999).
• 羊 (*laŋ) is phonetic (Liu, 2022).

The glyph in Chu (楚)

A compound of upside-down 矢 at left + 犬 at right, with unknown intention (Chen, 2005).

Qin-Han dynasty era inherited the Sanjin glyph with 犬 at top and 羊 at bottom (Liu, 2022). This is the source of the contemporary 幸 (Chen, 2015).

Shuo Wen interpreted it as a compound of 屰 (“opposite”) + 夭 (“death”) – lucky to be alive; fortunate.

幸

1. by fluke; lucky

   alt. forms: 倖 / 幸 (xìng)

2. fortunate; lucky

   三生有幸  ―  sānshēngyǒuxìng  ―  to be very lucky

   • 子曰：「丘也幸，苟有過，人必知之。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     子曰：「丘也幸，苟有过，人必知之。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐ yuē: “Qiū yě xìng, gǒu yǒu guò, rén bì zhī zhī.”

     the Master said, "I am fortunate! If I have any errors, people are sure to know them."

3. luckily; fortunately
4. to rejoice

   幸災樂禍／幸灾乐祸  ―  xìngzāilèhuò  ―  to be gratified by others' misfortunes

5. (literary) to hope; to wish
6. (historical, of an emperor) to personally visit
7. (literary) to favour; to dote on
8. a surname

• (to hope):

• (to personally visit): 親臨／亲临 (qīnlín)

Others:

• → Thai: เฮง (heng)

• “幸”, 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–
• 李如龙 , 刘福铸 , 吴华英 , 黄国城 (2019) “幸”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 267.
• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 , editor (2022), “幸”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 265.
• Chen, Jian (陈剑) (2005) “释上博竹书《昭王毁室》的“幸”字”, in 汉字研究 第一辑, Beijing: 学苑出版社.
• Chen, Xuan-Wei (陳炫瑋) (2015) “與「㚔」相關構造字研究”, in 中正漢學研究, number 1, see pages 50–51.
• Liu, Haiyu (劉海宇) (2022) “日本大和文華館藏古璽印的調查與研究——兼說戰國文字中從“犬”“羊”的“幸”字”, in 第33屆中國文字學國際學術研討會論文集, pages 139–49.
• Zhao, Ping'an (趙平安) (1999) “漢字形體結構圍繞字音字義的表現而進行的改造”, in 中国文字研究, see pages 68–69.

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: ぎょう (gyō)^{←ぎやう (gyau, historical)}
• Kan-on: こう (kō, Jōyō)^{←かう (kau, historical)}
• Kun: しあわせ (shiawase, 幸せ, Jōyō)^{←しあはせ (siafase, 幸せ, historical)}、さいわい (saiwai, 幸い, Jōyō)^{←さいはひ (saifafi, 幸ひ, historical)}、さきわい (sakiwai, 幸い)^{←さきはひ (sakifafi, 幸ひ, historical)}、さき (saki)、さちわい (sachiwai, 幸い)^{←さちはひ (satifafi, 幸ひ, historical)}、さち (sachi, 幸, Jōyō)、さつ (satsu)
• Nanori: ゆき (yuki)、よし (yoshi)

• 射幸心(しゃっこうしん) (shakkōshin)
• 薄幸(はっこう) (hakkō)

/kau/ → /kɔː/ → /koː/

From Middle Chinese 幸 (hɛng^X, literally “lucky, fortunate, auspicious”). The kan'on, so a later borrowing.

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

幸(こう) • (kō) ^{←かう (kau)?}

1. good luck, good fortune; happiness
2. an appearance by the emperor or a retired emperor

The good fortune and happiness senses are generally considered as overlapping.

• (good fortune): 幸(こう)福(ふく) (kōfuku); 幸(さいわ)い (saiwai); 幸(さち) (sachi)
• (happiness): 仕(し)合(あわ)せ, 幸(しあわ)せ (shiawase)
• (imperial appearance): 行幸(みゆき), 御(み)行(ゆき), 御(み)幸(ゆき) (miyuki); 御(ご)幸(こう) (gokō)

幸(こう) • (Kō) ^{←かう (Kau)?}

1. a surname

/sakipapi/ → /sakiɸaɸi/ → /sakiwahi/ → /sakiwai/ → /saiwai/

Derived from sakiwai below.^[2][1]

More often spelled as 幸い with the final い to indicate the reading.

• 幸い

• (Tokyo) さいわい (Heiban – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

幸(さいわい) • (saiwai) ^{←さいはひ (saifafi)?}-na (adnominal 幸(さいわい)な (saiwai na), adverbial 幸(さいわい)に (saiwai ni))

1. very fortunate and happy, especially as bestowed by gods, spirits, buddhas, or other entities
2. favorable, ideal (often used in polite constructions)

   お返(へん)事(じ)をいただければ幸(さいわ)いです。

   O-henji o itadakereba saiwai desu.

   It would be favorable if I could have your reply. → I would greatly appreciate your reply.

幸(さいわい) • (saiwai) ^{←さいはひ (saifafi)?}

1. fortunately, luckily, happily

   幸(さいわい)、怪我(けが)はなかった。

   Saiwai, kega wa nakatta.

   Luckily, no one was hurt.

When used as an adverb without a particle, this term usually comes at the start of the sentence. It also appears used with advervial particles に (ni) and と (to), or, perhaps more commonly, in an adverbial construction as 幸なことに.

幸(さいわい) • (saiwai) ^{←さいはひ (saifafi)?}

1. very good fortune and happiness, especially as bestowed by gods, spirits, buddhas, or other entities
2. an occurrence of good luck or good fortune
3. (derivation unknown) the tail and back fins of a carp or other fish, as used in cooking

• (favorable occurrence): 幸(しあわ)せ (shiawase)
• (happiness): 幸(しあわ)せ (shiawase), 幸福(こうふく) (kōfuku)
• (fish tail and back fins): 尾(お)鰭(ひれ) (ohire)

/sakipapi/ → /sakiɸaɸi/ → /sakiwahi/ → /sakiwai/

The 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 幸(さきわ)う (sakiwau, “to meet with good fortune; to prosper”), itself a compound of 幸(さき) (saki, “good fortune, happiness”) + 這(は)う (hau), 延(は)う (hau, “to spread out widely”).^[2]

• IPA^(key):

幸(さきわい) • (sakiwai) ^{←さきはひ (sakifafi)?}

1. (obsolete) an occurrence of good luck or good fortune
2. (obsolete) good luck or good fortune itself

Obsolete in modern Japanese, replaced by saiwai above.

• (good fortune): 幸福(こうふく) (kōfuku); 幸(さいわ)い (saiwai); 幸(さち) (sachi)

From Old Japanese.^[2] Possibly cognate with 先 (saki, “tip, point; future, ahead”) from the idea of future. Possibly also related to sachi / satsu below.

• IPA^(key):

幸(さき) • (saki) 

1. (obsolete) good luck, good fortune; happiness
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 18, poem 4095:

     大夫能 許己呂於毛保由 於保伎美能 美許登佐吉乎 聞者多布刀美

     大夫の 心思ほゆ 大君の 御言の幸を 聞けば貴み

     ますらをの こころおもほゆ おほきみの みことのさきを きけばたふとみ

     Masurawo no | kokoro omohoyu | Ohokimi no | mikoto no saki wo | kikeba tafutomi

     “Such manliness of spirit is brought to mind. How noble to hear of the happiness / good fortune of the words of the emperor...”

The good fortune and happiness senses are generally considered as overlapping.

Saki in this sense appears to be obsolete in modern Japanese.

• (good fortune): 幸福(こうふく) (kōfuku); 幸(さいわ)い (saiwai); 幸(さち) (sachi)

/sat͡ɕipapi/ → /sat͡ɕiɸaɸi/ → /sat͡ɕiwahi/ → /sat͡ɕiwai/

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 幸う (sachiwau, “to meet with good fortune; to prosper”), itself a compound of 幸 (sachi below, “good fortune, happiness”) + 這う, 延う (hau, “to spread out widely”).^[2]

• 幸い

• IPA^(key):

幸(さちわい) • (sachiwai) ^{←さちはひ (satifafi)?}

1. (obsolete, rare) an occurrence of good luck or good fortune
2. (obsolete, rare) good luck or good fortune itself

Obsolete in modern Japanese, replaced by saiwai above. In historical Japanese, sachiwai appears to be a rarer variant of sakiwai above.

• (good fortune): 幸福(こうふく) (kōfuku); 幸(さいわ)い (saiwai); 幸(さち) (sachi)

From Old Japanese.^[2] Possibly cognate with Korean 살 (sal, “arrow”). Possibly also related with saki above.

The kanji may have originally been applied to this word for the source Chinese term's associations with good fortune.

This is the standalone form of satsu below.

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

幸(さち) • (sachi) -na (adnominal 幸(さち)な (sachi na), adverbial 幸(さち)に (sachi ni))

1. very fortunate and happy

幸(さち) • (sachi) 

1. (archaic) a hunting implement; the spirit of a hunting implement
2. a bounteous catch (for fishing), amply caught game (for hunting); food (specifically animal protein caught in the wild: fish or game)
3. good fortune, good luck; happiness

• 幸(さち)あれ (sachiare)

From Old Japanese.^[2] Possibly cognate with Korean 살 (sal, “arrow”). Possibly also related with saki above.

The kanji may have originally been applied to this word for the source Chinese term's associations with good fortune.

This is the bound form of sachi above. This form is only ever used in compounds. Possibly the original form.

• 猟

• IPA^(key):

幸(さつ) • (satsu-) 

1. (obsolete) hunting, for hunting

   幸(さつ)矢(や)、幸(さつ)弓(ゆみ)、幸(さつ)人(ひと)

   satsuya, satsuyumi, satsuhito

   a hunting arrow, a hunting bow, a hunter

幸 (eumhun 다행 행 (dahaeng haeng))

1. hanja form^? of 행 (“fortune; good luck”)

幸: Hán Nôm readings: hạnh, may

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