永 - The Rivers Go On FOREVER

Readings & Meanings:

エイ

なが（い）

eternal

Common Usage:

永久に

永眠

末長い

Examples:

その文書は永久に保存されることが決まった。

長い闘病生活の末、彼はついに永眠した。

末永いお付き合いを宜しくお願いします。

Translations:

We have decided to preserve these writings forever.

After a long, protracted fight against the disease, he finally passed into eternal sleep.

I hope that this is the beginning of a long friendship.

Radical:

水 = water.

That's what I think of when I look at this kanji. Water. And then I look at the top, and see that little piece jutting off, and then I know it's 永, meaning eternal.

When reaching for an explanation, I think of the Greek idea "Nothing eternal but change," which comes packaged with the idea of a river: the river changes, but it is always the same while always changing.

When we reach back into the origins of this kanji, we get the idea of water splitting into many rivers. The length and breadth of the many tributaries of the rivers is too great to measure with your eyes. 永's thought concept is that an eternal amount of time is immeasurable, like trying to measure the amount of water in a river and its divisions.

Important:

Please do not confuse 永 (forever) with 氷 (ice).

永 has two splits at the top of 水, signifying many rivers splitting off.

氷 has only one chip of ice on the left. And is delicious in the summer as かき氷.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm