疒nè

疒is successively written as （《粹》126）， （《后下》11．9）， （《乙》738）in oracle script，and in small seal script．In Radical Sec tion 疒from Shuo Wen ，it says，“疒，倚也，人有疾病，象倚着之形”（疒means leaning against．The shape of the word refers to patients leaning against something）．According to Xu Shen，疒means leaning．It is a pictograph，indicating that a person has disease who can not stand steadily，like leaning on certain object．

疒is written in a vertical way in oracles with the image of a man on one side and a bed爿（pán）on the other．But it is not just a bed．If we turn the character around，it looks as if a man were lying on a bed，and the couple of dots look like the drops of sweat on the body．This represents a sick man．This character should be an associative character with its original sense as a sick person lying and resting on the bed．

This character is later used only as a radical indicating“sickness or related to illness”，such as in疾，痈，疽，疝，痴，etc．，all of which are related to certain disease．

卧wò

卧is written as in small seal script．In Radical Section 卧from Shuo Wen ，it says，“卧，休也。从人、臣，取其伏也”（卧means rest．It is categorized into the radical sections人and臣．It looks like people lying）．It is an associative compound composed by人and臣．The shape of the word is a person submitting，similar to a man lying on the back．

The original meaning of卧is lying．For example，in the poems written by Lu You（1125 AD－1210 AD），a famous poet in the Song Dynasty，there are lines as“卧听风吹雨”（Lying late at night I heard the storm）and“僵卧孤村不自哀”（Lying stiff in this lonely village I do not lament for myself）．This character can also be used to describe the bridge over a river in a personalized way．

寝qǐn

寝is written as in oracle script， in bronze script and in small seal script．In Radical Section 宀from Shuo Wen ，it says，“寝，卧也。从宀， 声”（寝means lying．It is categorized into the radical section宀and follows the phonetic pattern of ）．According to Xu Shen，寝means liedown and sleep．It is a pictophonetic character with宀as its ideographic element and as its phonetic component．

In the bronze inscription script，this character is composed of a radical as the sign of form宀and a phonetic element of帚．The original meaning of寝is“sleep and lie down”．For example，in the chapter on A Miscellaneous Discussion of Ceremonial Usages of The Book of Rites ，it says“游毋倨，立毋跛，坐毋箕，寝毋伏”（Do not walk out in strutting，nor stand with one leg raised．Do not sit with your two knees as wide apart as a dustpan，nor sleep on his stomach）．And one example in The Analects of Confucius it reads“宰予昼寝”（Disciple Zɑiyu slept late in the morning）．

寝can also be used to mean the venue where the royal family keeps the costumes of their ancestors．In Er Ya ，it describes the halls without left and right wings as寝（qǐn）．It is also used to refer to the mausoleum of the emperor．In Yin Wu ， Sacrificial Odes of Shang ， The Book of Odes and Hymns ，it reads“松桷有 ，旅楹有闲，寝成孔安”．In translation，this sentence means“long are the projecting beams of pine；large are the many pillars．The temple was completed，the tranquil abode（of his tablet）”． RStJRW3f/aYB8lK5D8nsAUCAoldyJtn6yIYUWHny7fLgUd82CyZeJQltJHYqhIwS