厩 (jiù): stable

Meanings

1 stable
2 barn (for horses or livestock)

Characters

厩

jiù

stable

Examples

马厩里养着十几匹马。

Mǎjiù lǐ yǎng zhe shíjǐ pǐ mǎ.

More than ten horses are kept in the stable.

他每天打扫厩里的草料。

Tā měitiān dǎsǎo jiù lǐ de cǎoliào.

Every day he sweeps out the fodder from the stable.

Tips

usage

厩 is mostly used in compounds, especially 马厩 (mǎjiù, horse stable). Standalone use is literary/old. The traditional form 廄 contains 广 (shed/roof) and 既 (suggesting 'fully fed'), a roofed shelter where animals are fed.

history

The famous Confucian story 《论语·乡党》: '厩焚。子退朝，曰：「伤人乎？」不问马' - 'The stable burned down. When Confucius returned from court he asked: "Was anyone hurt?" He did not ask about the horses.' This was cited for centuries as evidence of his humanism.

Components

radical

厂 hǎn

cliff; open shed

Cliff/shed radical wraps the upper-left, pictograph of an overhanging rock-face used as natural shelter. In 厩 it represents the lean-to roof of a stable, the open-fronted shed built against a hillside to keep livestock out of weather. Same wrapper in 厨 (kitchen) and 厕 (latrine), each a utility shed.

phonetic

既 jì

already; finished

Inside sits 既, supplying the sound - jì to jiù through a j-row alternation. The 'finished eating' picture of 既 (person turning away from a food vessel) is a faint memory hook: stables are where animals finish feeding for the night. The traditional 廄 has a fuller roof, same internal phonetic.