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Chris Button says that he was looking at the oracle-bone form for wēi 危 ("precarious, precipitous; perilous; high; ridge [of a roof]; dangerous") and noticed that Huang Dekuan (2007 mammoth dictionary of ancient forms of characters) treats it as depicting a qīqì 欹器 ("tilting vessel" or "tipping vessel").  This was:

…an ancient Chinese ceremonial utensil that automatically overturned and spilled its contents once it reached capacity, thus symbolizing moderation and caution. Both Confucian and Daoist Chinese classics include a famous anecdote about the first time Confucius saw a tilting vessel. In the Confucian tradition (e.g., Xunzi) it was also named yòuzuò zhī qì (宥座之器, "vessel on the right of one's seat"), with three positions, the vessel tilts to one side when empty, stands upright when filled halfway, and overturns when filled to the brim—illustrating the philosophical value of the golden mean. In the Daoist tradition, the tilting vessel was named yòuzhī (宥卮, "urging goblet" or "warning goblet"), with two positions, staying upright when empty and overturning when full—illustrating the metaphysical value of emptiness, and later associated with the Zhuangzian zhīyán (卮言, "goblet words") rhetorical device.

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The terminology for such vessels mentioned in six received texts in the Chinese classics is quite complicated:

"Phonetic loan characters", using an existing character to be read as a substitution for another of similar or identical pronunciation, have complicated interpreting several "tilting vessel" names. Prior to the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) when the process of standardizing Chinese characters began, scribes would use a current Chinese word and character to write another (near-)homophonous word without a standard written form, which often subsequently resulted in the creation of a new character to write the original word and meaning. For example, yāo from Old Chinese *ʔew (要, "waist") was borrowed to write yào from *ʔew-s "important; want" and the original "waist" sense was later written yāo (腰) semantically clarified with the addition of the "flesh" radical.

The word qì (器, "implement, utensil, instrument; vessel, utensil used as a container or receptacle", Kroll 2017: 357) is a recurrent linguistic element in Chinese names and descriptions for tilting vessels. What became the most common tipping-vessel name qīqì (欹器) is a linguistic compound with yī (欹, "exclamation of admiration"), which was a phonetic loan character for qī (攲, "slanting, canted, leaning to the side; inclined; oblique; askew; unstable, unsteady", Kroll 2017: 352). Both these logographs are classified as radical-phonetic characters, combining the same qí (奇, "uncommon") phonetic component with two different semantic components or radicals, called the "lack" radical (欠) and "branch" radical (支).

Another name with qì ("utensil"), yòuzuò zhī qì (宥坐之器, "vessel on the right of the seat" or "urging vessel"), is written as (宥坐之器) in the Xunzi and Kongzi jiayu, (宥座之器) in the Han shi waizhuan, or (右坐之器) in the Shuo yuan. The first word yòu (宥, "generous, indulgent, magnanimous; lenient, to pardon") was a phonetic loan character for yòu (侑, "urge to eat or drink"), yòu (右, "right, right side"), or yòu (囿, "circumscribed area; confine", Kroll 2017: 565). Bernhard Karlgren's classic Grammata Serica Recensa dictionary glosses yòu (宥) as "to be large-minded; to pardon; remit taxes; aid, encourage; mitigate" and yòu (侑) as "assist; encourage to drink; forgive" (1957: 261). The second word is written with the related textual variants zuò (坐, "sit") and zuò (座, "seat", 2017: 636). The Wenzi has a final qi name, jiè zhī qì (戒之器, "warning vessel") using jiè (戒, "take precautions against, put on guard; warn(ing), monition", 2017: 210).

Yòuzhī (宥卮 or 侑卮, "a goblet for urging wine on a guest") is a "tilting vessel" name with zhī (卮 or 巵, "an ancient wine goblet") instead of qi (器), written with the yòu (宥, "lenient") loan character (Huainanzi) or yòu (侑, "urge to drink") clarification (Wenzi). Modern scholars such as D. C. Lau (1966) have connected this Daoist tilting goblet name with the zhīyán (卮言, "goblet words") rhetorical tactic found in the Zhuangzi.

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Chris says that the broader word families associated with wēi 危 ("precarious, precipitous; perilous; high; ridge [of a roof]; dangerous") makes him think Huang is probably correct.

This also reminds me of our many posts about wéijī 危機 ("crisis") where things reach a tipping point that makes them perilous / dangerous.

And then, for extra-Sinitic associations, there's this:

Starostin reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋō̆j (~-ō̆l) (“high, rise”) and compares 危 to Burmese ငွား (ngwa:, “be large, great, be high, to project prominently above and beyond others”), Jingpho [Term?] (ŋoi, “to rise, as a hill”); & possibly Proto-Kiranti *ŋo-.

Schuessler (2007) notes that Chinese and Written Burmese can be reconciled by assuming an ST final *-l; furthermore, 危 (OC *ŋoi) may be a vocalic variant of 巍 (OC *ŋui), which in turn is related to 魏 (OC *ŋuih).

(source)   

VHM:  I'm always pleased to come across Kiranti, since I lived among these eastern Nepal hill people for two years (1965-67).

In terms of broader connections, it also ties into the basket on head in guǐ 鬼 (and wèi 畏) that we discussed here.

Selected readings

• "Goblet word" (5/30/20)
• "English 'wine, French 'vin', Spanish 'vino'" (8/6/16) — this and the following two posts contain important notes on beer and the vessels for making, storing, and drinking it, including comparisons with similar vessels in the Middle East
• "Let the Beer-Divider Be Chief!" (8/5/09)
• "Don't Drive in the What, er?" (8/4/09)
• "Ethanol tampons" (12/5/14)
• "Horses, soma, riddles, magi, and animal style art in southern China" (11/11/19)
• "The Out of Hunan Theory" (9/13/19)
• "'Crisis = danger + opportunity' in America and in PRC official media" (4/21/20)
• "Crisis ≠ Danger + Opportunity" (4/29/05)
• "Etymology as argument" (6/18/05)
• "Hollywood glamour, activist passion, false rhetoric" (4/24/06)
• "Rice v. Mair" (1/27/07)
• "Stop him before he tropes again" (3/22/07)
• "Crisis = danger + opportunity: The plot thickens" (3/27/07)
• "Trope-watch, Oslo edition" (12/11/07)
• "The crisis-(danger)-opportunity trope, de-Sinicized" (3/7/09)
• "'Crisis = danger + opportunity' redux" (2/19/20)
• "Chinese word for 'crisis'" (Wikipedia)
• "danger + opportunity ≠ crisis:  How a misunderstanding about Chinese characters has led many astray" (Pinyin.info [2009])

February 1, 2021 @ 7:15 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Etymology, Language and culture, Lexicon and lexicography, Writing systems

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