0061 守

守

This character means ‘to protect, guard, obey.’ In Japanese it is pronounced SHU and mamoru, in Chinese shoǔ.

The upper figure

宀

means ‘roof.’ The lower figure

寸

represents a hand here, which is seen as guarding the home.

The ancient character

clearly shows the home and hand. We talk about ‘ancient’ characters, but how ancient is ancient? Very. This style of writing was used from around 1100 BCE or earlier to 200 BCE and beyond. It is still used in seals and calligraphy.