<p>The original character for the meaning <em>gas, atmosphere</em> is 「气」, while using 「氣」 for this meaning is strictly a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Rebus_(phonetic_loan)_characters" rel="nofollow noreferrer">phonetic loan</a>.</p>
<p>「氣」 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baxter-Sagart OC</a>: <strong>/*qʰ(r)ə[t]-s/</strong>) originally meant <em>gifting food to someone</em>, comprised from semantic
「米」 (<em>rice</em>) and phonetic 「气」 (<strong>/*C.qʰəp-s/</strong>). This word is now written as 「餼」.</p>
<hr />
<p>「气」 was originally a picture of thin clouds.</p>
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/m9RRd.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/m9RRd.png" alt="气" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">前</a>7.36.2<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=12532&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集12532</a></kbd></p>
<p>The stylisation that occurred to form the modern shape of 「气」 was firstly to differentiate the character from the similar-looking 「三」.</p>
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">春秋</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">金</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CTsAf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CTsAf.png" alt="气" /></a><br>洹子孟姜壺<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=9730&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成9730</a></kbd><kbd><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_seal_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">篆</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JyxaT.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JyxaT.png" alt="气" /></a><br><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;file=77389&amp;page=27" rel="nofollow noreferrer">气部</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">說文解字</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">簡</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vADsu.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vADsu.png" alt="气" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">法</a>115<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></kbd></p>
<p>Later on, the character became used as a phonetic loan for a word <strong>/*C.qʰət/</strong>, <em>to beg</em>, <em>request</em>, and thus the meaning <em>gas, atmosphere</em> 「气」 started to be written differently from the meaning <em>beg, request</em> 「乞」.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>「气」</p>
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han" rel="nofollow noreferrer">東漢</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隸</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PlF34.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PlF34.png" alt="气" /></a><br>魯峻碑<br>　</kbd><kbd><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楷</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/osoFm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/osoFm.png" alt="气" /></a><br>　<br>　</kbd></p>
</li>
<li><p>「乞」</p>
<p><kbd>東漢<br>隸<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0UTpA.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0UTpA.png" alt="乞" /></a><br>武梁祠畫象<br>　</kbd><kbd><br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VshV3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VshV3.png" alt="乞" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>「氣」 was first created to represent the unrelated word now written as 「餼」. Probably, due to the potential confusion caused by 「气」 and 「乞」 being the same character,「氣」 became used as a phonetic loan for the word meaning <em>gas, atmosphere</em>, and eventually became the overwhelmingly preferred way of writing this word.</p>
<p>To write the word originally written as 「氣」, semantic 「食」 (<em>food</em>) was later added to form 「餼」.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong>References:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>季旭昇《說文新證》</li>
<li><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">小學堂</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國學大師</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">郭沫若《甲骨文合集》</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://ctext.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國哲學書電子化計劃</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;res=77351" rel="nofollow noreferrer">宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-24T05:55:29.743Z
2020-09-26T09:31:31.740Z
2020-09-26T09:31:31.740Z
dROOOze
<p>I remember reading somewhere that it's a pictograph of the steam  or vapor 气 coming from boiling rice 米. But here's what wiktionary says about its etymology:
Original form of 餼／饩 ("to present rice as a gift"), which is from the same source as 乞 ("to endow, to beg"). Current meaning came from phonetic loan. Cognate with 愾／忾 ("anger, hatred").</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T19:24:17.787Z
2015-01-15T19:24:17.787Z
user9260
<p>Wiktionary says:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>氣: Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kʰɯds, *qʰɯds): phonetic 气 (OC *kʰɯds) + semantic 米 (“rice”) – to give rice as a gift.</li>
<li>气 (OC *kʰɯds) is a pictogram (象形) of clouds flowing through the sky. In the oracle bone script, it was represented by three horizontal strokes, expressing the &quot;feeling&quot; of the sky. However, in order to avoid confusion with the number 三 (OC *suːm, *suːms), the current 气 (OC *kʰɯds) was changed to draw a small stroke from top to bottom. The glyph of 氣 (OC *kʰɯds, *qʰɯds) and 乞 (OC *kʰɯds, *kʰɯd) comes from the same ancient form.</li>
<li>乞: Variant of 气 (OC *kʰɯds), distinguished to indicate a phonetically borrowed meaning “to beg”.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>For some reason, later 氣 came to take 气's meaning of air, possibly to distinguish it from 乞.</p>
<p>In the creation of Simplified Chinese, 氣 was changed back to 气.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-25T18:04:01.433Z
2020-09-25T18:04:01.433Z
mic
<p>In my opinion,the rice is a kind of food. If someone don't eat anything,he will dead,and no longer  breath. So, if no food,then no breath.
My english is not good. Hope to help you .</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-02T19:46:21.247Z
Welcome to Chinese SE. This question is seeking evidence/facts for why the radical was added, and not an opinion. Please provide some sort of research to back up your claim. Thank you.
user3871
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-02T13:40:14.897Z
2013-10-02T13:40:14.897Z
Cang Lan
<p>說文解字 has both references for <a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C23.htm">氣</a> and <a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C14.htm">气</a>.</p>

<p>Put simply, 气 and 氣 comes from different origin and somehow merge together into one stream later.</p>

<p>In detail: 米 is not added to 气 to get 氣 in Tang Dynasty. Long time ago, 氣 appears in the form of <a href="http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=2046">Bronze inscription</a>, though different meaning as 气. 氣 is originally designed to mean the "air generated from digesting food". While 气 is originally designed to mean the physical gas. In the reference of 氣, "饋客芻米也" means "氣 is a verb, showing the action of giving guest fodder (芻, chu2) and rice (米) as gift." 饋 (kui4) is "to give someone gift". 氣 with this meaning later becomes <a href="http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&amp;char=%E9%A4%BC">餼</a> to clarify the action relating to food.</p>

<p>So nowadays, in Taiwan, <a href="http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/yitib/ldb/ldb05748.htm">氣為餼之異體</a> (氣 is another non-standard variant of 餼). Also, according the <a href="http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/">教育部異體字字典</a> 气為氣之異體 (气 is another non-standard variant of 氣). In China mainland, 氣 is replaced by 气 as standard.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-16T03:58:28.967Z
Ah. That's "rice" to know.
Registered User
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T02:23:53.653Z
氣 did not originally mean "air generated from digesting food." It meant "grain offering." There is a very detailed analysis here on this very question: http://www.hongyuandong.com/blog/linguistics/the-etymology-of-%E6%B0%94-qi/
Nimrod
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-02T16:25:03.773Z
2013-10-02T16:25:03.773Z
George
<p><a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/zy/6C14.htm" rel="noreferrer">气</a> is an ancient character that has roots in an oracle bone pictogram, but <a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/js/6C23.htm" rel="noreferrer">according to this</a>, the rice radical was added in the Tang dynasty to form 氣.</p>

<p>What were the reasons for this? What does 气, meaning gas, air or life force, have to do with rice?</p>

<p>Note: this question is not about traditional vs simplified.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-02T10:29:33.110Z
You can see the [说文解字 tab on that page](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C23.htm).
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-02T15:58:44.893Z
Ha ha, @Stan the mighty sometimes make mistake :D Your reference treats 氣 as different meaning as modern 气. There's some merging story behind. See my answer later.
George
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-10-03T01:47:35.853Z
@congliu actually I was conscious of that. I didn't put it as an answer because I didn't know **when** 餼(饩) and 氣(气) were merged XD
Stan
<characters><etymology><glyph-origin><character-components>
Why was the rice component added to 气 to form 氣?
# Why was the rice component added to 气 to form 氣?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-10-02)

[气](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/zy/6C14.htm) is an ancient character that has roots in an oracle bone pictogram, but [according to this](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/js/6C23.htm), the rice radical was added in the Tang dynasty to form 氣.

What were the reasons for this? What does 气, meaning gas, air or life force, have to do with rice?

Note: this question is not about traditional vs simplified.

**Tags:** characters, etymology, glyph-origin, character-components
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You can see the [说文解字 tab on that page](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C23.htm).  
> **username_2**: Ha ha, @Stan the mighty sometimes make mistake :D Your reference treats 氣 as different meaning as modern 气. There's some merging story behind. See my answer later.  
> **username_1**: @congliu actually I was conscious of that. I didn't put it as an answer because I didn't know **when** 餼(饩) and 氣(气) were merged XD  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-10-02. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

說文解字 has both references for [氣](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C23.htm) and [气](http://www.zdic.net/z/1c/sw/6C14.htm).

Put simply, 气 and 氣 comes from different origin and somehow merge together into one stream later.

In detail: 米 is not added to 气 to get 氣 in Tang Dynasty. Long time ago, 氣 appears in the form of [Bronze inscription](http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=2046), though different meaning as 气. 氣 is originally designed to mean the "air generated from digesting food". While 气 is originally designed to mean the physical gas. In the reference of 氣, "饋客芻米也" means "氣 is a verb, showing the action of giving guest fodder (芻, chu2) and rice (米) as gift." 饋 (kui4) is "to give someone gift". 氣 with this meaning later becomes [餼](http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&char=%E9%A4%BC) to clarify the action relating to food.

So nowadays, in Taiwan, [氣為餼之異體](http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/yitib/ldb/ldb05748.htm) (氣 is another non-standard variant of 餼). Also, according the [教育部異體字字典](http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/) 气為氣之異體 (气 is another non-standard variant of 氣). In China mainland, 氣 is replaced by 气 as standard.

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: Ah. That's "rice" to know.  
> **username_9**: 氣 did not originally mean "air generated from digesting food." It meant "grain offering." There is a very detailed analysis here on this very question: http://www.hongyuandong.com/blog/linguistics/the-etymology-of-%E6%B0%94-qi/  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-09-24. Score: 5

The original character for the meaning *gas, atmosphere* is 「气」, while using 「氣」 for this meaning is strictly a [phonetic loan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Rebus_(phonetic_loan)_characters).

「氣」 ([Baxter-Sagart OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)): **/\*qʰ(r)ə[t]-s/**) originally meant *gifting food to someone*, comprised from semantic
「米」 (*rice*) and phonetic 「气」 (**/\*C.qʰəp-s/**). This word is now written as 「餼」.

---

「气」 was originally a picture of thin clouds.

`商  
甲  
![气](https://i.sstatic.net/m9RRd.png)  
前7.36.2  
合集12532`

The stylisation that occurred to form the modern shape of 「气」 was firstly to differentiate the character from the similar-looking 「三」.

`春秋  
金  
![气](https://i.sstatic.net/CTsAf.png)  
洹子孟姜壺  
集成9730` `篆  
![气](https://i.sstatic.net/JyxaT.png)  
气部  
說文解字``秦  
簡  
![气](https://i.sstatic.net/vADsu.png)  
法115  
睡虎地秦簡`

Later on, the character became used as a phonetic loan for a word **/\*C.qʰət/**, *to beg*, *request*, and thus the meaning *gas, atmosphere* 「气」 started to be written differently from the meaning *beg, request* 「乞」.

* 「气」

  `東漢  
  隸  
  ![气](https://i.sstatic.net/PlF34.png)  
  魯峻碑` `楷  
  ![气](https://i.sstatic.net/osoFm.png)`
* 「乞」

  `東漢  
  隸  
  ![乞](https://i.sstatic.net/0UTpA.png)  
  武梁祠畫象` `楷  
  ![乞](https://i.sstatic.net/VshV3.png)`

「氣」 was first created to represent the unrelated word now written as 「餼」. Probably, due to the potential confusion caused by 「气」 and 「乞」 being the same character,「氣」 became used as a phonetic loan for the word meaning *gas, atmosphere*, and eventually became the overwhelmingly preferred way of writing this word.

To write the word originally written as 「氣」, semantic 「食」 (*food*) was later added to form 「餼」.

---

**References:**

* 季旭昇《說文新證》
* [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
* [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)
  + [郭沫若《甲骨文合集》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/)
  + [中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/)
* [中國哲學書電子化計劃](https://ctext.org/)
  + [宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》](https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=77351)


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-01-15. Score: 2

I remember reading somewhere that it's a pictograph of the steam or vapor 气 coming from boiling rice 米. But here's what wiktionary says about its etymology:
Original form of 餼／饩 ("to present rice as a gift"), which is from the same source as 乞 ("to endow, to beg"). Current meaning came from phonetic loan. Cognate with 愾／忾 ("anger, hatred").


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-09-25. Score: 1

Wiktionary says:

> * 氣: Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC \*kʰɯds, \*qʰɯds): phonetic 气 (OC \*kʰɯds) + semantic 米 (“rice”) – to give rice as a gift.
> * 气 (OC \*kʰɯds) is a pictogram (象形) of clouds flowing through the sky. In the oracle bone script, it was represented by three horizontal strokes, expressing the "feeling" of the sky. However, in order to avoid confusion with the number 三 (OC \*suːm, \*suːms), the current 气 (OC \*kʰɯds) was changed to draw a small stroke from top to bottom. The glyph of 氣 (OC \*kʰɯds, \*qʰɯds) and 乞 (OC \*kʰɯds, \*kʰɯd) comes from the same ancient form.
> * 乞: Variant of 气 (OC \*kʰɯds), distinguished to indicate a phonetically borrowed meaning “to beg”.

For some reason, later 氣 came to take 气's meaning of air, possibly to distinguish it from 乞.

In the creation of Simplified Chinese, 氣 was changed back to 气.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2013-10-02. Score: -1

In my opinion,the rice is a kind of food. If someone don't eat anything,he will dead,and no longer breath. So, if no food,then no breath.
My english is not good. Hope to help you .

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Welcome to Chinese SE. This question is seeking evidence/facts for why the radical was added, and not an opinion. Please provide some sort of research to back up your claim. Thank you.  

---

