FRAME 640 (ego) says

Quote:"Compare to FRAMES 17, 36, and 525."

But I don't know why... The referenced frames seem to have nothing to do with the kanji (ego).

I am using the 5th Edition.

Maybe not the kanji, but the keywords could be confused.
If you're thinking about "ego" as in the "ego" and the "id" as opposed to "man, that guy sure has a big ego," then I can see it being confused with words like "I," "oneself," and "self."

They all have to do with referring to the first person, and so the keywords could get confusing. Not necessarily the kanji.

Ah, I get it. Thank you very much.

I did not think about the other meaning:

Quote:(ego) self: your consciousness of your own identity

Cheers!

Boy.pockets Wrote:I did not think about the other meaning:

Quote:(ego) self: your consciousness of your own identity

Cheers!

Be careful about that, since that is, in fact, the meaning that Heisig had in mind.　For example, someone speaking somewhat (I think) formally, might put 我(わが）in front of a noun to indicate that it is theirs, or refer to their group as 我々（われわれ）＝we/us/whatever.

There are loads of keywords that are ambiguous throughout the book.

Although the kanji can certainly have the other meaning of "ego" as well -- Koujien's second definition is 思うところに凝り固まって、人の言に従わないこと。ひとりよがり。「－が強い」「我流」, and I would put 我欲 in that category as well.

Even if it is the meaning Heisig was thinking of, if it works better to think of "someone who's a huge leprechaun" as opposed to some abstract "consciousness...thingy," then I'd say go with the one that works.

In relation to a somewhat related thread, I don't think Heisig was thinking about the game "Risk" or, god forbid the movie "Risky Business" when he was coming up for a keyword for 冒. But hey, it works.

That's weird because I find the 'ego' as in 'sup guys I'm the coolest dude in the room' is a much more common, colloquial way of using the word.

Heisig is a well-educated guy. Ego means "I" in latin. I think he was getting at the fact that this word is a very old way of saying "I". It basically comes from classical chinese texts, so it's analogous to "ego" in that sense.

Oh, I didn't actually click the link. Now I see.

That Kanji means "I" in Chinese.

See mom? I did learn something in 3 years of Sunday Chinese School!

Actually that's about one of the only things I remember. I wish I'd studied the characters harder ((