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 old graphs 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 common word with 易 in modern Ch. is 容易 róngyì ‘easy’, in which 容 also often refers to 容器 containers (and their contents); senses of 容易 range from (HDC): ⑴ 不费事 ‘not costly/troublesome (to do)’; ⑵ 轻易 ‘be rash/disrespectful, treat lightly/cheaply, be careless’; ⑶ 变化 ‘change’ (sudden/imminent/likely); 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, …) ‘rippling; fluttering; leisurely (easy-going)’ (HDC); 裔 yì ‘fringe (on a garment)’ is homophonous with 易 yì ‘easy’ in MC, but not in earlier periods (but cf. 溢 ‘overflow’); some senses of 容裔 suggest 易 ‘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.
    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
    HDC: 容易 : 做起来不费事; 轻率, 草率, 轻易; 轻慢放肆; 疏忽, 糊涂; 某种事物发展变化的进程快; 发生某种变化的可能性大
 ►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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