丈

Ideogrammatic compound composed of:

十 (열 십) — originally depicting a cross-shaped staff or cane, not merely the number ten.

又 (또 우) — representing a hand.

Together, 丈 depicts a hand grasping a staff, the traditional symbol of age, authority, and support.

According to Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「丈，十寸也。从十又。」

“丈 means ten cun (寸). Formed from 十 (‘ten’) and 又 (‘hand’).”

The earliest usage referred to both a unit of length (ten cun ≈ one cheok) and a staff held in hand.

Over time, the image of a staff — an object used by elders — became associated with the elder himself, giving rise to meanings such as elderly man, father, husband, or venerable person.

When the specific meaning “staff” needed to be restored, the character 杖 (지팡이 장) was created by adding the wood radical (木).

丈夫 (장부) — adult man; hero; husband (lit. “great man”)

丈人 (장인) — father-in-law; elder man (lit. “respected elder”)

老丈 (노장) — venerable old man; respected elder

丈夫人 (장부인) — madam; elder’s wife (honorific)

一丈 (일장) — one jang (approx. 3.03 m)

丈量 (장량) — to measure (length or land)

十丈 (십장) — ten jangs; about 30 meters

杖丈 (장장) — length of a staff

The early graph of 丈 in bronze inscriptions (金文 jinwen) clearly shows a hand holding a vertical staff, representing both physical support and authority derived from age.

In the Confucian social order, age and moral seniority are deeply linked. Hence, 丈 became a respectful term for men of status, wisdom, or elder generation.

The expression 丈人 (장인) originally meant simply elder or venerable man, but later came to mean one’s wife’s father — as a gesture of formal respect.

In literature and speech, 丈 often functions as a polite suffix for addressing men of respect:

「王丈」「李丈」 — “Elder Wang,” “Elder Li.”

This usage parallels English “Sir” or “Mister” in a more venerational tone.

The related term 丈夫 (장부) — literally “a man of full stature” — came to symbolize courage, uprightness, and integrity.

From Book of Songs (《詩經·召南》):

「彼丈夫也，懷勇有度。」

“He is a true man — brave, measured, and resolute.”

Here, 丈夫 reflects not just physical maturity but moral strength — the ideal of the cultivated man.

In metrological contexts, 丈 standardized as a unit of length in ancient China:

1 丈 = 10 尺 (cheok) ≈ 3.03 meters (modern metric conversion).

This duality of 丈 — both physical (measurement) and social (elderly authority) — mirrors the Chinese tendency to extend tangible symbols into moral and cultural meanings.

Cultural and symbolic meaning:

The staff (杖) and the elder (丈) share a symbolic connection in East Asian cultures — both signify support, stability, and wisdom.

Thus, to “lean on one’s staff” became a metaphor for dependence on age and experience, while 丈 came to embody dignity and moderation.

In poetic imagery, 丈 evokes reverence:

「高山仰止，景行行止，雖不能至，心嚮往之。」 (Book of Odes)

“We look up to the high mountains; though we cannot reach them, our hearts yearn upward.”

Just as mountains symbolize greatness, 丈人 (venerable elder) came to represent the moral height of human virtue.

In its compound forms — from 丈人 (elder) to 丈夫 (heroic man) — the character continues to express the ideals of strength, dignity, and upright stature, whether of the body, the moral spirit, or the measure of a man.