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You know that wedding reception table where the bride and groom seat misfits who don’t belong at any other table? Well, that oddball table is ours today! We’ll feast on a smorgasbord of random, cool things pertaining to 中.
Speaking of seating, we encountered two seat-related compounds in the last blog:
中座 (chūza: leaving before an event (e.g., a meeting) is over)
in the middle + gathering
座中 (zachū: in the room, gathering, theatrical troupe)
gathering + in the middle
My definition of 座 as “gathering” may have seemed strange to you; 座 (ZA, suwa(ru)) more commonly means “seat” or “to sit.” Actually, the kanji 席 (SEKI) also means “seat.” And as it happens, both characters combine with 中 in compounds. If 中座 and 座中 refer to leaving or staying in rooms, what could 中席 mean? You’ll find out if you take a quick quiz!
Can You Be More Specific?
The compound 中席 is one of several 中 words with crazy specificity:
車中談 (shachūdan: informal talk given aboard a train (as by a politician)) car + inside + to discuss
中農 (chūnō: middle-class farmer) middle + farm
中腰 (chūgoshi: half-sitting, half-standing posture) middle + loins
This reminds me of the “fierce pose” or “chair pose” in yoga.
暑中見舞い (shochū-mimai: routine inquiry about (someone’s) health in the hot season) hot + during + inquiry (last 2 chars.,
which break down as to see + to dance)
Neutrality Isn’t Just for Switzerland
As you may know, 和 can mean “Japan,” as in 和食 (washoku: Japanese-style food, Japan + food) and 和服 (wafuku: Japanese clothes, Japan + clothes). One might therefore interpret 中和 (chūwa) as “China-Japan.” But as we saw last week, 中日 (chūnichi) is the way to write “China-Japan.” Turns out, both 中 and 和 have scads of meanings. In 中和, 和 means “mix,” while 中 means “neutral,” as an extension of “middle.” So 中和 means “neutralization” or even “counteracting of (poison).” That is, 中 neutralizes a toxic mix. And now, here’s a quick quiz about neutrality.
State of Mind
At last we’ve arrived at one of my favorite topics: state of mind. Yet another meaning of 中 is “to be absorbed in” or “to be immersed in.” Accordingly, the following words describe intense, deeply internal, all-encompassing experiences:
熱中 (netchū: enthusiasm, zeal, nuts!)
passion + to be absorbed in
暗中 (anchū: in the dark, in secret)
dark + to be absorbed in, inside
集中 (shūchū: concentration)
to collect + to be absorbed in
夢中 (muchū: rapture, absorption, intentness; in a trance)
dream + to be absorbed in霧中 (muchū: in the fog)
fog + to be absorbed in
This last word can refer to a literal fog but much more often serves a figurative purpose, meaning “lost,” “bewildered,” and “not knowing what to do.” Rarely does 霧中 appear alone; people often use it in the expression 五里霧中 (gori-muchū: five + Japanese mile + fog + to be absorbed in). This compound means “in the fog for five miles in all four directions,” which is to say, “really, truly, completely lost”!
For One More 中 Word
with a Cool Internal Rhyme …
And now we come to another great compound with 中, one that hones in on this sense of mental immersion:
意中 (ichū: one’s mind or thoughts)
mind + to be absorbed in, inside
This compound often appears in the following expression:
意中の人 (ichū no hito: one’s beloved, the one in one’s thoughts)
mind + to be absorbed in + ‘s + person
Isn’t that beautiful? The one you love is the person in your thoughts. Your mind is in a state of absorption. But you can’t apply this word to everyone you love—not even to your spouse. To find out more, click the link below.
And what if the subject of your thoughts isn’t a person but rather kanji?! For that, I proclaim the following to be a new word:
漢中 (kanchū: to be absorbed in kanji)
But wait—since 漢 indirectly means “China,” it seems that my coinage could mean China + China. Well, then, perhaps the two muchū compounds can do the trick, collectively describing what it is to love kanji while feeling eternally lost.
