漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
塞: close, shut
Also: cover, block, obstruct
N1 (our estimate)13 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met
宀 and 土 carry the meaning · 三 and 八 are drawn in
13 strokes
Oracle bone · Shang Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
ソクsoku · on'yomi · in compounds
- 閉塞へいそくblockage; blockade; blocking up
- 梗塞こうそくstoppage; blocking
- 脳梗塞のうこうそくcerebral infarction; (ischemic) stroke
サイsai · on'yomi
- 要塞ようさいfort; stronghold; fortification
ふさぐfusagu · kun'yomi · on its own
- 塞ぐふさぐto stop up; to close up; to block (up)
- 塞がるふさがるto be closed; to be blocked
Also read とりで, みちる, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Imagine a cross planted firmly in the ground—that's 土! It shows a stake or a seedling marking the earth, reminding us of farming, construction, and the solid foundation upon which we build our lives and cities.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
三
Also built on three (三)
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side塞 close · 土
vs寒 cold · 冫In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · sāi
Same form: 塞 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 塞 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 塞 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin sāi most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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