死

Literal: the cessation of life.

Figurative/Functional: stagnation, fixity, or a lack of viability; when applied to inanimate objects, strategies, or land, it indicates a state of being unresponsive or incapable of further development.

Functions as a verb (primarily intransitive), adjective (describing a condition of death or stagnation), or noun (the concept of death).

In transitive constructions (causing death), this glyph emphasizes the resulting state of dying rather than the active agency of killing, distinguishing it from 殺.

In cosmological or early philosophical texts—particularly Daoist works—this glyph is frequently paired with 生 (life). In such contexts, it may function as a pole in a cyclical process, representing a transition or return to a root rather than a terminal finality.