仏
Buddha
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| ぶつ | ほとけ | ｲ + ム |
Meaning: Buddha
You have a leader of a pile… or in this case, you have a leader that’s shaped like a pile. Do you know those little statues of Buddha that are sitting cross-legged on the ground, meditating? They kind of look like piles of something, neatly stacked up. So, the leader of piles is actually Buddha himself, because he sort of looks like a pile sitting there.
Another way to remember this kanji meaning is by thinking of someone who claims to be the leader of a pile of arbitrary things. You ask him, “why are you the leader of this?” and he replies something abstract and thoughtful, like “because I am the leader of nothing, and something” … whatever the case may be, we know he’s Buddha because he can come up with neat sayings like that (but hopefully neater than mine).
Reading: ぶつ
Now you’re standing in front of Buddha. Everything looks good except… he’s wearing this absolutely ridiculous pair of boots (ぶつ).
You’ll have to imagine the boots as being super strange… like, cowboy boots covered in pink feathers, or something like that. The stranger the better, because it will help you to remember the reading of this kanji, based off the meaning of this kanji.
Vocabulary
I think the Buddha would appreciate it if you learned these two vocab words before continuing.
a 仏（ほとけ）＝ Buddha
- Meaning: Same as the kanji
- Reading: Of course, the kun’yomi reading (because it’s a single kanji all-alone vocab word). Most likely, this is the kind of word you’ll need to memorize the old fashioned way.
a 大仏（だいぶつ）＝ Large Statue of Buddha
- Combo: 大 (big) + 仏 (Buddha)
- Meaning: A big Buddha is probably going to be one of these statues (and not a giant living Buddha). These statues are all around Japan. They’re pretty big, and neat!