寧

The original form in Oracle bone script (甲骨文) combined:

宀 — a house

皿 — a vessel

丂 — interpreted as abundance or sufficiency

This depicted food stored securely inside a house, symbolizing safety, sufficiency, and peace.

Bronze inscriptions (金文):

心 (heart) was added, emphasizing inner calm and reassurance.

Clerical script (隸書):

丂 gradually transformed into 丁, producing the modern structure.

Thus, 寧 conveys: material sufficiency + shelter + emotional calm.

Core meanings:

- peaceful; tranquil

- safe; at ease

- to inquire after someone’s well-being

- to return to one’s natal family (for married women)

- rather; would rather (concessive usage)

안녕 (安寧) — peace; well-being

강녕 (康寧) — health and peace

문안 (問安) — inquire after one’s health

영녕 (永寧) — eternal peace

차라리 (寧可) — would rather

寧 represents peace achieved through sufficiency and emotional calm.

In Korea, 寧 is widely used as a generational name character (항렬자).

In China, it functions both as a common word and a place-name marker.

In Japanese, usage is mostly literary or classical.

Related characters:

安 — peace, safety

靜 — quiet, still

康 — healthy

定 — settled, fixed

Semantic distinction (historical):

寧 — peaceful, tranquil (level tone)

甯 — rather; how could one not (departing tone)

Classical usage:

Classic of Poetry (詩經)

「宜其室家，樂爾妻帑，寧不我顧？」

“May your household be harmonious, May you delight in your wife and children, Will you not look upon me?”

Here 寧 expresses assured calm.

Analects (論語)

「安而後能慮，慮而後能得。」

"Only when one is at ease can one contemplate; only through contemplation can one attain."

Commentaries often gloss 安 with 寧, pairing the two as ethical tranquility.

Historical prose

安寧 — peace and stability

康寧 — health and tranquility

寧 frequently appears in Buddhist texts as:

- inner peace

- mental stillness

- freedom from disturbance

Often paired with 靜, 安, or 定.

寕, 寍, 寜, 寗, 甯

Historically:

寧 / 寕 / 寍 / 寜 — “peaceful, tranquil” (level tone)

甯 / 寗 — “rather; how could one not…” (departing tone)

Later usage merged these distinctions.

The simplified form 宁 (U+5B81) was originally a different character (“courtyard”), not a true simplification of 寧. To avoid ambiguity, the original 宁 is sometimes written as 㝉 in scholarly contexts.