九五

Chinese

nine five
simp. and trad.
(九五)		 九 五
Literally: “nine (in the) fifth (position)”.

Etymology

The first hexagram of the I Ching (䷀) is six solid bars from bottom to top. In I Ching divination, a value of nine corresponds to a solid bar (old yang: i.e. yang changing into yin). In the I Ching commentary for the first hexagram, it notes that a value of nine in the fifth position (the second bar from the top) has the following meaning:

From: I Ching, 3rd – 2nd millennia BCE
fēi lóng zài tiān, lì jiàn dàrén [Pinyin]
The flying dragon is in the heavens, which helps it to see a great man

As a result of the symbolism of the wording in the commentary, this term eventually came to be associated with the emperor.

Pronunciation

Rime
Character 九 五
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 見 (28) 疑 (31)
Final (韻) 尤 (136) 模 (23)
Tone (調) Rising (X) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) III I
Fanqie 舉有切 疑古切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /kɨuX/ /ŋuoX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /kiuX/ /ŋuoX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /kiəuX/ /ŋoX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /kuwX/ /ŋɔX/
Li
Rong		 /kiuX/ /ŋoX/
Wang
Li		 /kĭəuX/ /ŋuX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /ki̯ə̯uX/ /ŋuoX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 jiǔ wǔ
Baxter-Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 九 五
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 jiǔ wǔ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ kjuwX › ‹ nguX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*[k]uʔ/ /*C.ŋˤaʔ/
English nine five

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter-Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 九 五
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 6941 13147
Phonetic
component		 九 五
Rime
group		 幽 魚
Rime
subdivision		 1 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 久 五
Old
Chinese		 /*kuʔ/ /*ŋaːʔ/

Noun

九五

  1. (archaic) the emperor
the fifth bar (the second from the top) is a solid line, and has a numerical value of nine (old yang)

Derived terms

  • 九五之位
  • 九五之尊
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