The character 六 liù is the number 6,and is pronounced like lil as in lilting.The top two strokes of 六 liù represents a roof, under which is 八 bā 8,again indicating something not solid and yin in nature.
六
五
The character 五 wǔ is the number five,and is pronounced like woo as in woollen.The old written form of 五 as shown in the picture on the rightis a cross in between two lines. The top line is heaven,the bottom line is earth, and the cross is the transformationof heaven and earth, which is wuxing.
四
The Chinese character 四 sì is the number four.It is pronounced like the first syllable of sibilant.The character is made up of a square with an 8 in the middle,indicating the separating yin nature of 四 sì.
八
The character 八 bā is the number eight, and is pronounced like baaas in baa baa black sheep.Beginning this lesson with the number 八 bā helps explainthe Chinese numerals 4 and 6.八 is an ideograph of two people back to back leavingor separating, which indicates the yin nature of things that are dividing or separating.
三
The character 三 sān is the number three, and it pronounced like sarn, the way darn is pronounced but beginning with the letter S. Sān 三 is between 一 and 二, that is, between heaven and earth, so it is a representation of the Dao of heaven and earth, and resides between the two, as... Continue Reading →
二
The character 二 èr is the number two and pronounced as though one were saying the letter R. It is the numerological representation of the earth, and yin.
一
The Chinese character 一 yī is equivalent to the numeral 1, and is pronounced like the first syllable of easy. Yī is the beginning of the Dao, it is the numerological representation for heaven and for yang.
月
The word 月 yuè means moon or month and is pronounced like the first two letters in the word "yurt". It is like the character 日 but with an opening of the bottom. This opening of the bottom implies something not solid, or incomplete, because the moon waxes and wanes. As 月 signifies the moon,... Continue Reading →
The Chinese character rì 日 means sun or day, and is pronounced like the first two letters in the English word "right". The early form of 日 rì was written as a circle with a horizontal stroke through the middle. The circle signified the sun and the horizontal stroke signified the solid light. The reason... Continue Reading →
也 地
The picture to the left is the old written form of the character 也 yě, pronounced like “yeah”, which is a representation of a woman's sex organ. 也acts as a copula which links the subject of sentence with a subject complement, for example “the dog is old”. Dog is the subject, old is the complement,... Continue Reading →
Rhonda Chang 