塞

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塞 U+585E, 塞
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-585E
← 塝
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 塟 →
塞 U+F96C, 塞
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F96C
← 參
 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 省 →

Translingual

Han character

塞 (Kangxi radical 32, 土+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 十廿金土 (JTCG), four-corner 30104, composition ⿱𡨄土)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 236, character 9
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5349
  • Dae Jaweon: page 474, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 475, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+585E

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 塞
alternative forms 㩙

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 塞
Shang Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (塞) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
賽 *slɯːɡs
塞 *slɯːɡs, *slɯːɡ
簺 *slɯːɡs
僿 *hljɯɡs
寨 *zraːds, *slɯːɡ

Oracle bone script: Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 宀 (“house”) + 工 (“two items”) + 廾 (“two hands”) – stuffing the house with items. Hence, the original version is 𡨄, a character similar but unrelated to 共 but partly related to 展.

Shuowen: Ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 𡨄 + 土 (“soil”); the bottom component was added later.

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • sāi - vernacular (“to stuff; to be jammed; stopper”);
  • sāir - “stopper”;
  • sēi - low vernacular (“to stuff”);
  • sè - literary.
Note:
  • sék - vernacular;
  • sáik - literary.
Rime
Character 塞
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 德 (131)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 蘇則切
Baxter sok
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sək̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/sək̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sək̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sək̚/
Li
Rong 		/sək̚/
Wang
Li 		/sək̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/sək̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		se
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		sak1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 塞
Reading # 3/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sè
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sok ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ˁək/
English stop up, block (v.)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 塞
Reading # 2/2
No. 10961
Phonetic
component 		塞
Rime
group 		職
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		塞
Old
Chinese 		/*slɯːɡ/

Definitions

塞

  1. to stop up; to block up
    • 絕巧者，詐偽亂真也。棄利者，塞貪路閉權門也。
      绝巧者，诈伪乱真也。弃利者，塞贪路闭权门也。
      From: c. 2nd century CE, Riverside Elder's Chapter-and-Verse Commentary on the Classic of the Way and Virtue (《老子河上公章句》); English translation by Reid (2015)
      Jué qiǎo zhě, zhàwěi luànzhēn yě. Qì lì zhě, sài tānlù bì quánmén yě.
      Quit cleverness, swindling, deceit, and confusing the truth. Abandon profit, block the road to greed, and close the doors to power and authority.
  2. to stuff; to cram; to squeeze in
    將報紙塞落對鞋度
    将报纸塞落对鞋度
    zoeng1 bou3 zi2 sak1 lok6 deoi3 haai4 dou6
    to shove newspaper into a pair of shoes
  3. to be blocked; to be jammed
  4. to forbid; to suppress; to prohibit
  5. to satisfy; to fulfill
  6. to compensate; to remedy
  7. to answer; to repay
  8. to manage to arrange a position for someone
  9. to practise bribery
  10. to evade; to stall
  11. stopper; cork
  12. to be in a difficult position; destitute
  13. honest; truthful
  14. (historical) Saka people
Synonyms
  • (to stop up): 堵 (dǔ)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Rime
Character 塞
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 咍 (41)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 先代切
Baxter sojH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/sʌiH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/səiH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sɒiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/səjH/
Li
Rong 		/sᴀiH/
Wang
Li 		/sɒiH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/sɑ̆iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		sài
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		soi3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 塞
Reading # 1/3
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		sài
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sojH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ˁək-s/
English frontier

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 塞
Reading # 1/2
No. 10958
Phonetic
component 		塞
Rime
group 		代
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		賽
Old
Chinese 		/*slɯːɡs/

Definitions

塞

  1. (historical) place of strategic importance; pass; fortress
  2. to build fortress; to construct fortifications
  3. frontier; border
    塞翁失馬／塞翁失马  ―  sàiwēngshīmǎ  ―  The old man at the frontier losing a horse
  4. (specifically) the northern frontier of imperial China, as demarcated by the Great Wall
  5. alternative form of 賽 / 赛 (sài, “to compete, contend; contest, race”)
  6. alternative form of 簺 (sài, “an ancient gambling game”)

Compounds

References

  1. ^ Heshang Gong (2015) “Chapter 19: 還淳 - Return to Simplicity”, in Dan G. Reid, transl., The Ho-Shang Kung Commentary on Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching

Japanese

Kanji

塞

(Jōyō kanji)

  1. to block
  2. to shut off
  3. to close
  4. fort; fortress

Readings

Compounds

Idioms

Korean

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 塞 (MC sojH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

塞 (eumhun 변방(邊方) 새)

  1. hanja form? of 새 (“frontier; border”)
  2. hanja form? of 새 (“fortress”)

Compounds

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 塞 (MC sok).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

塞 (eumhun 막을 색 (mageul saek))

  1. hanja form? of 색 (“block”)

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

塞: Hán Nôm readings: tắc, tái

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