虢 (Guó): Guo (surname)

Meanings

1 Guo (surname)
2 Guo (a group of Zhou-dynasty ducal states)

Characters

虢

guó

Guo (state and surname)

Examples

唇亡齿寒，说的就是虞虢两国。

Chúnwáng-chǐhán, shuō de jiùshì Yú Guó liǎng guó.

If the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold; this describes Yu and Guo.

晋国向虞借道去攻打虢。

Jìnguó xiàng Yú jiè dào qù gōngdǎ Guó.

The state of Jin borrowed a road through Yu to attack Guo.

Tips

history

虢 was a cluster of small states ruled by relatives of the Zhou kings. Its fall to Jin is the source of the idiom 唇亡齿寒 ('when the lips are gone the teeth get cold'): allies who depend on each other.

Components

radical

虎 hǔ

tiger

虎 is the tiger radical. The early meaning was 'marks clawed by a tiger'; the radical kept the tiger link even after 虢 became a state and surname.

phonetic

寽 lǚ

phonetic element (a hand seizing)

The left side 寽 supplies the sound. The character originally depicted a tiger's clawed scratch-marks, the grasping-hand element capturing that 'tearing' action before the name sense took over.