"攴" is one of the first radicals of the Chinese character. Read "pū". It is homophonous with the word "flutter" in "moth fighting fire".
In the Oracle, "攴" is written like this:
Oracle bone "攴" character
The "攴" oracle bone glyph depicts a hand holding some kind of instrument doing a percussive action. What exactly is the instrument in your hand? Some people say it is a scepter, some say it is a ruler, some people say it is a stick or whip, and the most interesting one is that this is an ancient percussion farm tool, similar to today's "flail".
In the Commentary on the Interpretation of Words, it is said:
"Oh, small hits also." From again, bu sheng. ”
This means that the word "攴" means "tapping gently". Take "and" as the shape ("and" means "hand"), and "bu" as the sound. Xu Shen interprets "攴" as a shape-sound character.
"攴" in the dictionary, there is also a kind of interpretation: the ancient same "flutter", ring ruler.
Duan Yujie's Commentary on the Interpretation of Words says:
(攴) from and bu sheng, and again, the hand also. The "Scriptures" are changed into 'fluttering', 'and' become hands, bu sheng does not change, and the body of the Han Stone Scripture is covered. ”
Duan Yujue believes that "flutter" is a change of the word "攴" instead. Rewrite the word "again" to the side of the handle (扌).
In the seal text, "攴" is written as follows:
Seal text "攴" character
The glyph of the seal character "攴" is very close to the glyph of the character "攴" that we use today. Only in the seal text "攴" character, you can clearly see the "hand" glyph in the lower part.
I said in the article "You may not know that these Chinese characters are related to 'hand'", and the glyph of the word "and" generally means "right hand".
Evolution of "left" and "right" glyphs
We rarely see the word "攴" used alone today. As a word component, "攴" and many parts synthesize many new words.
In modern Chinese characters, the combination of "攴" in other characters is mostly written as "攵" (next to the reverse text), and only a few numbers retain the "攴" writing.
The words beginning with the word "攴" are generally related to the movements of the hand, such as "knocking, defeating, defeating, collecting, attacking, reforming, releasing, teaching, defeating, pastoring" and so on.
Among the very few Chinese characters that retain the word "攴", the only one we are familiar with and commonly used is the word "knock".
The glyph of the "knock" character in the script is very clear, the left and right structure, the left "high" and the right "攴". "攴" means "hand-held instrument tapping". "High" in the word "knock" is both the sound side and the shape side, indicating the city tower and the city wall. In oracle bones, the word "high" reads:
Oracle "high" word
"Gao" is a hieroglyph depicting the appearance of a tall city tower, which clearly outlines the city gate, the city wall, the fortress, and the spire of the city tower.
"Tall" (castle tower) + "攴" (armed percussion) means: soldiers on the city wall, holding instruments, knocking from top to bottom on the enemy climbing the wall.
In the word "knock", what is the instrument held by the soldier? It's a very interesting question, and we might as well open our minds.
Mozi is known for his defense, and students who have studied the text "Public Loss" know that "the opportunity to attack the city in the nine sets of the public loss plate is changed, and the zi Mozi is nine distances away." The attack of the public loss plate is exhausted, and the defense of Zi Mozi is more than enough. In the book "Mozi", he made a detailed discussion of the specifications and configuration of defensive weapons.
The Mozi Beicheng Gate records:
"Two steps with a company, a long axe, a long vertebrae, and twenty guns."
This means that before defending the city, it is necessary to prepare equipment such as company, long axe, long vertebrae, and guns to resist the enemy. Among the above weapons, only the "continuous reinforcement" belongs to the striking weapon. "Lian Ting" is a weapon made of iron cables that connect two wooden rods, one long and one short. The Song Dynasty was also called "iron chain clamp rod". Because it is shaped like the flail used by farmers to beat the threshing, it is commonly known as the "flail stick".
Flail sticks, ancient called lian ting or lian tong
The Biography of Mozi Bi Moth records:
"When the enemy is attached to the ladder of clouds, dense as an ant, and goes up the wall of the city, he burns it with fire and strikes it with a feast."
"Lian Zhen" should be "Lian Ting".
Du You wrote in the General Code of Passage the method of defending the city and resisting the enemy:
"Lian Zhen, like a flail, beat the enemy in the upper city outside the female wall."
When the enemy army attacked the city, it was densely packed like ants, and when they climbed the city wall with the help of the ladder, they first burned it; when the remnants of the enemy climbed to the female wall, they hit the enemy in the head with a company. The soldiers guarding the city were condescending, swooping down on headshots with a company, and friends who had played with the double knuckle stick could fully imagine its lethality.
We may also think of the picture of the gopher, but compared to the joy of playing the gopher, the meaning conveyed by the word "knock" is much bloodier.
The "Explanation of Words" says, "Knock, hit the head also." " Simple, neat and cold.