月

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month

On-Yomi: ゲツ、ガツ — Kun-Yomi: つき

Elements:

month, moon, month, flesh, part of the body

Heisig story:

This character is actually a picture of the moon, with the two horizontal lines representing the left eye and mouth of the mythical "man in the moon." (Actually, the Japanese see a hare in the moon, but it is a little farfetched to find one in the kanji.) And one month, of course, is one cycle of the moon.

Heisig comment:

* As a primitive element, this character can take on the sense of moon, flesh, or part of the body. The reasons for the latter two meanings will be explained in a later chapter.

Koohii stories:

1) [cerulean] 19-5-2008(157): A month is longer than a day.

2) [elktapestry] 21-3-2007(60): Am I the only one who sees this as someone sticking their ass in the air "mooning" someone (two cheeks of the butt and the legs coming off of it)? The Moon meaning connects well to the meaning of month, considering that months were traditionally measured by the phases of the moon. Also, the mooning "ass" part of it connects well to Hesig's seemingly unconnected "flesh" or "part of the body" meaning (when used in primitive form).

3) [gaijingo] 16-6-2006(15): Month - every MOON cycle, werewolves eat FLESH, and other PARTs OF THE BODY.

4) [Tsuki56] 6-6-2009(12): Once a month, the moon is full.

5) [LiviaCH] 5-8-2008(8): A month is longer than a day.

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