Ching is composed of a contraction of 高 kao high and a vertical line, and is supposed to picture a high mound (cf. capitolium). It was formerly a radical, but is now classed under 亠 t'ou, the meaning of which is unknown. [The capital is 京師 ching shih, transliterated by Marco Polo as Quinsai or Kinsay, in reference to Hangchow (line 254) which was the capital from A.D. 1129 to 1280.]
| 254P. | 永 | 樂 | 嗣 | and Yung Lo succeeded the latter. | |
| Yung3 | lo4 | ssŭ4 | |||
| Yung | lo | connect |
Yung is a picture of water flowing away, and means long, for ever, eternal = dum defluat amnis. It is now classed under radical shui water. See line 158.
Lo see line 154. [Yung Lo is the title of the reign of the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He was the fourth son of the founder (line 254K). He deposed his nephew (line 254M) in 1403, and removed the capital from Nanking to Peking.]
Ssŭ is composed of a bundle of tokens of authority given by the suzerain to his vassals, with 口 k'ou mouth above as radical, and 司 ssŭ official as phonetic (line 80). It is commonly used in the senses of heir, to inherit.
| 254Q. | 逮 | 崇 | 禎 | At length Ch'ung Chêng | |
| Tai4 | ch'ung2 | cheng1 | |||
| Reach | ch'ung | chêng |
Tai see line 235.
Ch'ung is composed of 山 shan hills as radical, and 宗 tsung ancestral as phonetic. It means high.
Chêng is composed of 示 shih divine manifestation as radical and 貞 chêng or chên chaste as phonetic. It means lucky, but here stands, with Ch'ung, for the title of the reign of the last Emperor of the Ming dynasty, who came to the throne in A.D. 1628.
