Radical 10-1屯tún, to accumulate

Radical 10-1屯tún, to accumulate

“Look, there’s a plant growing up out of the ground. We can see its first, tender leaf. That’s so cute! “

In the ancient form of the character屯tún , we see what seems to be the frozen figure of a plant which has just grown out of the earth. This gives the idea of the initial difficulties involved in getting over the icy winter while waiting for spring to arrive. The plant has to conserve and generate energy as best it can.

For this reason the character屯tún  means “to accumulate” or “to conserve”.   

Here are some examples of other words:

l  屯兵 Tún tián  to amass troops

l  屯糧Tún liáng  to store cerials 

l  屯墾 Tún kěn  to station troops responsible for land reclamation   

屯tún also represents Hexagram 3 of the I Ching, which is made up of shaking 震Zhèn ☳ below, and water 坎Kǎn ☵ above, together they represent the image of clouds and thunder in the sky, clearly a picture of disorder.

  
For those people looking for guidance, this Hexagram indicates that the time for action is not the present moment. They should take care, reflect more carefully and act correctly, but at the same time be prepared and plan for the future. When referred to young people it indicates that they should try to be disciplined and keep their mind free of thoughts that could block the free flow of ideas.

©兒童手搏文創Kids Shou Bo Arte Cultura & Saggezza Cinese

Elaborated by M°Dante Basili /M°Stefano Danesi  Translated by Neil Berry