I made my first kanji connection with the graphically unassuming character 生 in the early days of a beginners Japanese class, when I stumbled through a self-introduction using the standard 私は学生です (Watashi wa gakusei desu. I am a student.). My instructor explained that one meaning for 生 was "scholar": I was a 学生 (gakusei, study/scholar, student) and she was a 先生 (sensei, ahead/scholar, teacher; i.e., one who has studied ahead of others).

Today, after three decades of kanji study, I find 生 to be one of the most intriguing of Japan's 2,136 general-use characters. With an estimated 200 different pronunciations — more than any other kanji — and dozens of different meanings and nuances, there is always something new to discover about 生.

One of the most basic meanings of 生 is "life," as expressed in the compound words 人生 (jinsei, person/life, human life) and 一生 (isshō, one/life, lifetime). 生 refers to non-human life, as well: 生物 (seibutsu, life/thing) means "organism" and 生態 (seitai, life/condition) is "ecology." Other associated meanings concern "livelihood" (生活, seikatsu, life/activity, existence) and "health" (厚生, kōsei, enrich/health, health promotion).