邪

Translingual

Han character

邪 (Kangxi radical 163, 邑+4 in Chinese, 邑+5 in Japanese, 7 strokes in Chinese, 8 strokes in Japanese, cangjie input 一竹弓中 (MHNL), four-corner 1722₇, composition ⿰牙阝)

Derived characters

• 捓, 峫, 㭨, 琊, 鋣(铘), 䓉

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1269, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 39319
• Dae Jaweon: page 1768, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3758, character 4
• Unihan data for U+90AA

Chinese

Glyph origin

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

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljaː, *laː) : phonetic 牙 (OC *ŋraː) + semantic 邑 (“town; city”).

The semantic component suggests that this character was originally used in a place name, which Shuowen suggests to be 琅邪. It was later borrowed for other meanings, the most prominent being “wrong; evil” (originally written as 衺).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

邪

1. wrong; evil; depraved; vicious; perverse; heterodox

   邪念  ―  xiéniàn  ―  evil thought

2. unnatural; strange
3. disaster; calamity
4. (traditional Chinese medicine) unwholesome environmental factor; pathogenetic factor

   風邪／风邪  ―  fēngxié  ―  pathogenic influence; cold

5. ^† Alternative form of 斜 (“tilted; inclined”)
6. (～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 邪 (MC yae)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

邪

1. Only used in 琅邪, alternative form of 琅琊 (Lángyá)

Compounds

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

邪

1. ^† Alternative form of 耶 (“sentence-final interrogative particle”)

   • 其正色邪？其遠而無所至極邪？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     其正色邪？其远而无所至极邪？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Qí zhèng sè yé? Qí yuǎn ér wú suǒ zhì jí yé?

     Is its azure the proper colour of the sky? Or is it occasioned by its distance and illimitable extent?

2. ^† The chant of labourers used for synchronized pulling, lifting, etc., similar to heigh-ho.

   • 夫治天下猶曳大木然，前者唱邪，後者唱許。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     夫治天下犹曳大木然，前者唱邪，后者唱许。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 黃宗羲, 《明夷待訪錄·原臣》

     Fú zhì tiānxià yóu yè dà mù rán, qián zhě chàng yé, hòu zhě chàng xǔ.

     Governing a country is like moving a heavy lumber. People in front chant yah, while people behind chant hoo.

Compounds

Pronunciation 4

Definitions

邪

1. ^† Alternative form of 徐 (xú, “slow”)

   • 其虛其邪？既亟只且！ [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     其虚其邪？既亟只且！ [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Qí xū qí xú? Jì jí zhǐjū!

     Is it a time for delay? The urgency is extreme!

Pronunciation 5

Definitions

邪

1. ^† Alternative form of 餘／余 (“remainder; remaining days”)

   • 歸邪於終，事則不悖。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     归邪于终，事则不悖。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Guī yú yú zhōng, shì zé bù bèi.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronunciation 6

Definitions

邪

1. Only used in 歸邪／归邪.

References

• “邪”, 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	邪
Kyūjitai	邪󠄂 邪+󠄂? (Adobe-Japan1)
	邪󠄄 邪+󠄄? (Hanyo-Denshi) (Moji_Joho)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. wicked
2. injustice
3. wrong

Readings

From Middle Chinese 邪 (MC zjae); compare Mandarin 邪 (xié):

• Go-on: じゃ (ja, Jōyō)^{←じや (zya, historical)}
• Kan-on: しゃ (sha)

From Middle Chinese 邪 (MC yae); compare Mandarin 邪 (yé, yá):

• Go-on: や (ya)
• Kan-on: や (ya)

From native Japanese roots:

• Kun: か (ka, 邪); よこしま (yokoshima, 邪)

Compounds

• 邪魔(じゃま) (jama)
• 風邪(かぜ) (kaze)
• 邪気(じゃき) (jaki)

Synonyms

• (evil): 奸

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “evil”): 正, 義 (righteous)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) よこしま (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Adjective

邪(よこしま) • (yokoshima) -na (adnominal 邪(よこしま)な (yokoshima na), adverbial 邪(よこしま)に (yokoshima ni))

1. evil, wicked

   邪(よこしま)な心(こころ)

   yokoshima na kokoro

   evil heart

2. 横しま: horizontal

Inflection

References

Korean

Hanja

邪 • (sa, ya) (hangeul 사, 야, revised sa, ya, McCune–Reischauer sa, ya, Yale sa, ya)

1. cunning, sly, crafty, artful
2. dislocated, out of joint, out of step, out of line
3. deceive, cheat, trick, fool, swindle
4. crooked, askew, slanted

Compounds

• 사술 (邪術, sasul)

Vietnamese

Han character

邪: Hán Nôm readings: tà, tá

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