黄 - YELLOW Flaming Arrows

Readings & Meanings:

オウ

コウ

き

こ

yellow

Common Usage:

黄色

黄砂

黄金色

黄昏期 (たそがれき)

Examples:

信号が青から黄色に変わった。

春になると黄砂が日本まで飛んでくる。

収穫前の小麦は黄金色に輝いている。

その作家は人生の黄昏期になっても新しい恋を探していた。

Translations:

The signal changed from green to yellow.

In Spring, yellow sand (from the Yellow River in China) flies over to Japan.

Before the harvest, the wheat glitters a golden yellow.

That author, even in the twilight of his life, was seeking out new love.

Radical:

黄 is its own radical! We're encountering a few of these, lately.

The symbolism of this radical is, indeed--dare I say it--radical.

黄 is a picture of an arrow plus a simplified form of 光, which means shine or light.

What would make an arrow shine? Dip it in animal fat and light it and then you'll see!

The yellow meaning comes from the color of the flames in the air. Radical.

References:

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