Where the shape comes from
The sun: a circle with a mark at its centre, which the brush and the writing column squared into a rectangle with one stroke across it. Because the sun measures the day, 日 also means "day", and it heads characters about light and time: 是, 时, 早, 明, 星.
汉字 filed under 日
- 日rì (fourth tone, falling)sun; day; day of the month in a written date4
- 时時shí (second tone, rising)time; an hour; a season; when, at the time of7
- 明míng (second tone, rising)bright; clear, evident; to understand; next (明天, 明年); the Ming dynasty8
- 是shì (fourth tone, falling)to be (am, is, are); yes, that is so; correct, right9