The etymology of "yu3 zhou4 (universe)"

[yly2pg1]

When i was still schooling, i come to know the implication of the characters yu3 (http://www.internationalscientific.org/Etymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%AE%87+&submitBut ton=Analyze+Character) zhou4 (http://www.internationalscientific.org/Etymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%AE%99&submitButt on=Analyze+Character)(universe) which means 'space' and 'time'.

For many years, the etymology of the two characters do not depict the elements of space and time, at least to me.

[yly2pg1]

But I come to notice something interesting from the 'space-time recursion':

Quote
<font size="-2">In fact the spacetime continuum at the macro level takes on the form of a Guassian distribution that is reflected at the micro level in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle where deltaPosition and deltaMomentum form into a symmetric dichotomy (+1/-1) format.

if we recurse spacetime we can also extract an asymmetric format where space is position oriented and time is momentum oriented such that we find a universal form spanning from the micro to the macro.... and also reflected 'in here' in the form of brain structure and basic differentiating/integrating dynamics.

(differentiating links to space in that the focus is on making a point, asserting a position. Integrating links to time in that the focus is on linking points in a definite order)</font>

[yly2pg1]

Back to the etymology of yu3 zhou4:

The component 'under the roof' of yu3 is component_yu3 (http://www.internationalscientific.org/Etymology.aspx?characterInput=%E4%BA%8E&amp;submitButt on=Analyze+Character)

The component 'under the roof' of zhou4 is component_zhou4 (http://www.internationalscientific.org/Etymology.aspx?characterInput=%E7%94%B1&amp;submitButt on=Analyze+Character)

[yly2pg1]

If we study the component 'under the roof' of yu3, the related meaning is 'at' or 'in' - asserting a position.

For the component (you2) 'under the roof' of zhou4, the related meaning is 'from'/'through' - a focus on links. (e.g. the word jing1 you2 (http://afpc.asso.fr/wengu/wg/zhendic.php?q=%A5%D1) means 'via').

[yly2pg1]

But, why they use a 'roof' on top of the character? Any ideas?

[lightofdarkness]

our labels ultimately 'reduce' to feelings and it is that level that lets us communicate as a species.

BUT this is vague and so many labels point to the same 'vibe' but differ in context.

As for 'roof' - isnt it a radical? - gets into the vibe of 'enclosure' or 'all encompassing', top something off, discretise it through encapsulating, containing, covering A to B etc?

[heylise]

Zhou is roof + follow, obey, cause, reason?, and its meaning is ?all time, past, present and future?.
?All time?.

Yu is ?roof? + ?in, at, to, from, by, than?. ?It represents graphically the connection between two distinct terms." (Wieger).
Maybe the roof has a kind of meaning like encompassing, spanning, ?all under one roof?. Like Chris also says. Same way it makes all causes to the one ?all-time?. Here it makes all connections to the one ?space?.

LiSe

[hilary]

Disclaimer: I don't know the first thing about this.

But for whatever it's worth, the etymological dictionary Yly2pg1 links to describes the character under zhou's 'roof' as a field with sprouting plant. That makes me think that you understand space in measurements, and you understand time in seasons. (Wilhelm says something like this about hexagram 11.) So maybe the roof encloses 'something we live in' or 'something we understand'. We make ourselves at home in space by measuring, in time through the seasons.

Maybe. (Or maybe not.)

[yly2pg1]

Thanks to all!

A ONE space consists of 'All time - past, present and future' - (a Big Bang Universe) - where myriads make their homes in space by measuring, in time through the seasons!!! Goodness!!!

The First Chapter of Dao De Jing! http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_community/clipart/zen2.gif