Word Chains
Character families are grouped by radical; word chains are grouped by scene. A chain lines up the words of one scene, ordered by degree — drag the slider and walk through them. Families tell you where a character came from; chains show you how words line up.
壹Mountains1 chains
Every landform on one mountain, from foot to summit.
Cliffs & Precipices · A Mountain’s Terrain
The ancients left a word for every landform — from wooded foothills to sheer precipices, up to the summit where all other peaks look small. Climb this chain and you have read one mountain from base to crown.
From the foot of the mountain to the summitThe mountain’s foot, wooded lowland.
麓 takes “wood” and “deer” — deer country at the tree line. Every climb begins in the woods.
贰Waterways1 chains
The evolution of a boat, from raft to tower-ship.
Boats & Ships · The Chain of Vessels
How did the Chinese build ever-bigger boats? From lashed logs to a palace that floats — the evolution of the ship is half the history of shipping.
From raft to tower-shipA raft — logs lashed together.
The first boat was tied, not built: a few logs and some courage, and the ancients took to the water.
叁Weather1 chains
The life of one rainfall, from drizzle to the clear sky after.
The Chain of Rainfall
The life of one rain: drizzle is the overture, the downpour the climax, and the clearing sky the coda — the ancients left a name for every act.
From a drizzle to the clear sky afterFine drizzle, fine as hair.
Rain in its infancy — “wets the clothes but hardly; chill does not touch the face.”
肆Journeys1 chains
The growing of a road, from footpath to grand highway.
The Chain of Roads
The ancients graded roads by width and origin: a track tramped by feet is 径; one that draws itself under orchards is 蹊; four ways crossing is 衢 — the width of the road is the measure of civilisation.
From footpath to grand highwayA footpath. “A single path into the cold pines”.
Narrow enough for one, yet it often leads to the best views.
伍Human Bonds1 chains
The depths of one friendship, from a first meeting to bonds of life and death.
The Chain of Friendship
Chinese has a set phrase for every depth of friendship — from a nod in the street to a friend you would trust with your neck.
From a first meeting to a bond of life and deathThe bond of one meeting.
Most friendships begin by accident.
陆Dwellings1 chains
The making of an estate, from thatched hut to palace.
The Chain of Dwellings
The depth of the estate is the depth of the family — from the straw hut of Three Visits fame, all the way to the Son of Heaven.
From thatched hut to palaceA thatched hut.
Three visits to the thatched cottage — Zhuge Liang’s house had a grass roof (see the Grass Family’s 茅).
柒Fisher & Woodcutter1 chains
Four callings — fishing, woodcutting, farming, reading — from making a living to going home.
Fisher, Woodcutter, Farmer, Reader
渔樵耕读 — the four retreats of the ancient scholar were really one way of living: turning the days themselves into poetry.
Four callings, and the way homeFishing on the river.
“A lone boat, straw cloak and hat, fishing the cold river snow alone” — fishing is the hermit’s first identity (see the Fish Family).
More scenes are on the way — the Chinese edition already has seventeen.