厩 (jiù) · stable, barn (for horses or livestock)

Meanings

1 stable
2 barn (for horses or livestock)

Characters

厩

jiù

stable

Examples

HSK 5

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.

HSK 6

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.