If there’s one thing it’s hard to destroy, it’s a jewel. Maybe that’s why someone thought it wouldn’t do any harm to remove the dot from 玉 and squish 王 off to the left in the following kanji:
珍 (CHIN, mezura(shii): rare)
The “rare” kanji combines components meaning “jewel,” “person,” and “hair”!
珠 (SHU, JU, tama: gem, jewel), as in 真珠 (shinju: pearl, genuine + jewel).
This kanji combines “jewel” and “red,” but 朱 doesn’t mean “red” here. Instead it conveys a sense of roundness via its phonetic qualities. But of course. We’re in kanji-land, where you need to stop expecting things to make sense!
珊 (SAN: coral)
This shows up in 珊瑚 (sango: coral, coral + coral), a doubly bejeweled word. I can’t actually confirm that the radical in 珊 is “jewel,” but it has to be, doesn’t it?
When you see a 王 radical, it doesn’t always mean “jewel,” and it isn’t always shunted off to the left. Sometimes, 王 still means king:
皇 (KŌ, Ō, kimi: emperor; sumera: related to the emperor)
Well, actually that’s the only case I can find in which 王 means king. I thought I had a shoo-in here, but I was wrong:
聖 (SEI, SHŌ: holy, sacred; hijiri: emperor, sage, saint, master)
This 王 formerly meant “person standing still” and had a different shape.
Then there are some hard-to-classify examples. To my surprise, 王 means “jewel” in the next two ultra-common kanji:
理 (RI, kotowari: reason)
現 (GEN, ara(wasu): to express)
But I can’t figure out what this shape means in the next two:
望 (BŌ, MŌ, nozo(mu): to desire, to hope for)
瑞 (ZUI, mizu: good omen, Switzerland, Sweden)This last kanji plays a part in a compound that made me laugh out loud:
瑞穂の国 (Mizuhonokuni: Japan, Land of Vigorous Rice Plants)
good omen + ear (of grain) + country
Finally, here’s a fun 王 kanji in which the shape means neither “jewel” nor “king”:
琴 (KIN: harp; koto (the musical instrument))
Here, each instance of 王 is likely a pictograph of the spool on a harp that enables people to adjust the tension of each string.
Besides a harp and a koto, you create lots of other instruments if you add just one kanji:
Add wood to get a xylophone: 木琴 (mokkin: xylophone)
wood + harp
Add wind to get an organ: 風琴 (fūkin: organ, accordion)
wind + harpWe’ve already talked about accordions! And it turns out that when we did, we saw 琴.
Add “carry in hand” to get a violin: 提琴 (teikin: violin)
to carry in hand + harp
Add the West (!) to get a piano: 洋琴 (yōkin: piano)
Western + harpA piano is a Western harp?!?!?
If you want to play on someone’s heartstrings, here’s how to do it:
琴線 (kinsen: heartstrings) harp + line
And here’s the ultimate 王 word, with a grand total of four such shapes:
琴瑟相和す (kinshitsu aiwasu: happily married)
koto + large koto + mutual + harmonyIn 瑟, the two instances of 王 again most likely represent spooled strings on a harp. Clearly there are lots of strings involved in a happy marriage. Or … you have to pull a lot of strings to have a gem of a marriage. Or your koto has to live in harmony with your spouse’s big koto. It’s necessary (必) for this to happen now (今). It all makes sense somehow!