0086 去

去

This character means ‘leave, go away.’ The Japanese pronunciation is KYO or saru and the Chinese is qù.

The upper part,

土,

means ‘earth, soil, ground, land, the earth.’ The lower part,

厶,

once represented the cocoon of a silkworm. However, there are other explanations for this character. Wieger says that the upper part was the lid of an empty vessel, the lower part, and the concept was that whatever was in the pot would leave the pot.

Sears sees the lower part as an enclosure, but sees the upper part as a man leaving an enclosure. Here are some of the archaic versions of the character:

    

One can see in them justification for any or all of these concepts.