Zi:易

易 [yì] (容易 róngyì) easy; (变易) change; (易经) Book of Changes; (HDZ:) 蜥蜴; …; 替代; 交换; …; 賜; …; (姓)

One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

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The character 易 yì ‘change; easy’ combines 日 rì ‘sun/time’ above, with 勿 wù ‘flag/don't’ below: in dualistic Chinese philosophy (易经) ‘change’ arises naturally/easily from the alternation of dark and light forces; in 易 (☯) the top component 日 signifies the 阳 yáng ‘male principle’ (⚊), while 勿 down below represents the 阴 yīn ‘female principle’ (⚋); the component 日 here (as in 阳 and 是 shì ‘being/true’) contrasts with 勿 (无/無 wú ‘nothing/false’; 阴).
    Shuōwén offers different interpretations of the Seal form of 易 yì ‘change; easy’; ⑴ it depicts a lizard (later wr. 蜴, as in 蜥蜴), a gecko (蝘蜓, 守宮, 壁虎) or chameleon (避役=壁蜴?, which readily/easily changes its color, cf. 龙); ⑵ in conjunction with the name of the classic Book of Changes (易经), 易 is associated with the sun/moon (阴阳), and with light rays (shining through/dispersing clouds), as in 晹 yì ‘sun flickering in and out of clouds’ (flickering like a 勿 ‘flag’).
    Compare: 昜 yáng ‘male/light principle’ (⚊), which cuts/divides 易 yì ‘change’ into its two parts/halves by slashing a 一(⚊) yáng line through its center.
    Older graphs associated with 易 look nothing like a lizard, and bear little resemblance to the sun and moon. Instead they are thought to depict a vessel, perhaps like 益 yì (䷩益󰀄; cf. ䷻節) brimming/overflowing with food or drink (☵水); or the three lines like ☰ (⚊陽/䷀乾) represent 卦爻 guàyáo ‘n-gram lines’ in general, or 蓍草 ‘yarrow stalks’, stored in or falling from a divination vessel 皿/鼎 (䷱).
    Note: (诗) (板) 如取如攜、攜無日益、牖民孔易 “As you take a thing, and bring it away in your hand, Bringing it away without any more ado. The enlightenment of the people is very easy.” (Legge)
    Note: A very common word with 易 in modern Chinese is 容易 róngyì ‘easy’, and the character 容 also often refers to 容器 containers (and their contents). Several homophones (or variant spellings of the syllables) róngyì are attested, the most common of which is 容裔 (also wr. 溶㵝, 溶溢, 融溢, …), HDC: ‘rippling; fluttering; leisurely (easy-going)’. The character 裔 ‘fringe (on a garment)’ is homophonous with 易 ‘easy’ in Middle Chinese, but not in earlier periods (but cf. 溢 ‘overflow’). The meanings of 容裔 are however suggestive of meanings associated with 易 such as ‘light flickering in and out of the clouds’. Cf. 容/溶/鎔/熔, 融, and the various writings of 融化 ‘melt/dissolve’; 融溢: 融合充满. The meanings of 容易 given in HDC range from 不费事 ‘not troublesome’ to 轻易 ‘be rash/disrespectful, treat lightly, be careless’, to senses relating to 变化 ‘change’ (sudden or imminent/likely).
    Compare: 赐/賜 cì ‘give/grant’, formerly also wr. 錫.
    Compare: 㑥 yì ‘treat each other lightly/disrespectfully; change/exchange’.
    Compare: 锡/錫 xī ‘tin’ (metal/implement/valuable).
    HDZ: 易 : yì : (甲金) 益/溢: 杯中盛水满出之形 (cf. 匜), 增益, 錫予, 賜予; 蜴: 蜥易=蜥蜴: 蝘蜓, 守宫: 一种爬行动物; (古) 阴阳变化消长的现象 (日月为易, 象阴阳也); (古) 卜筮书 (三易: 連山, 歸藏, 周易); (简称) 周易; 卜筮之象, (古) 以示吉凶祸福; 改变; 替代; 交换; 移, 蔓延; 夺; 异, 不相同; 始; 如, 象; 剔: 弹奏弦乐器指法之一, 即中指相外, 拨动琴弦; 庵; (副词) 亦; 埸: 疆埸, 边界; 賜: 赐给; (州名); (水名); (姓); 容易 (ant. 难); 平易, 平坦 (ant. 险); 和悦; 疾, 速; 简易, 简省 (节约, 省略); 简慢, 轻率; 轻贱, 轻视; 治, 治理
 ►references: Guǎngyùn:347.36,517.18; Wieger:101c; Karlgren:AD195,GSR850a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:2.1494.1; Mathews:2952; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:492.03; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:077.1.10; EDOC:1
►components: 日勿
►Cantonese: yih- yihk-
►stroke 易 (... strokes)
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Unicode: U+6613
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