Mnemonic
Under a tree, a squid crawls out of a nearby pond dragging a broken branch. With its sharp beak, the squid carefully carves the wood into a beautiful Chess Piece. It places the piece on a stone board beneath the tree and challenges you to a match with eight tentacles poised.
Additional thoughts
Picture the squid's tentacles gripping a wooden shōgi piece it just whittled — wood from tree, craftsmanship from squid. The absurd image of a squid playing chess under a tree locks both radicals in memory.Quick recall
A squid carves a branch from a tree into a perfect Chess Piece.Details
The keyword for 棋 is chess piece. This kanji refers to pieces used in board games, particularly those in traditional strategy games such as Japanese chess (shōgi) and Chinese chess. It broadly encompasses the concept of game pieces arranged and moved on a gridded board, and by extension can refer to the games themselves. The character evokes the world of strategic board games that have been central to East Asian intellectual culture for centuries.
- On'yomi
- き
- Kun'yomi
- ご