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* Today's Character : 苦 (thorny feeling)
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* How to read (& meaning) --- 1. Kuru-shii (feel thorny physically or mentally), 2. Niga-i (taste bitter)
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* Example --- せきが出て苦しいので、苦い薬を飲んだ。(Because my soar-throat was so "rough", I took a "bitter-tasted" medicine. )
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We have a Japanese character, "苦," read as "Kuru-shii". When you have a
bad cough, it's so hard to breath. The choking-feeling is what we call Kuru-shii.

Why does the character take, from the above, the herb hat and the two signatures of ten and mouth?

The lower part composed of the ten and the mouth once showed ten generations. People in ancient times passed a certain story over ten generations if it was striking. When the earliest man took a bitter-tasted medicine, it must have been unforgettable for him. The story seem to have been handed over after ten generations. Therefore, when you put the herb crown on the ten and mouth, the result of today means "taste bitter."

Actually, the bottom part of ten and mouth itself (古) means old. Families of ten generations passed over another folk tale to their children, grandchildren, and etc. etc. That's how the character of old was born.

In addition, the sign 十 came from a bundle of ten sticks. One unit was wrapped up by the ten.