<p>The distinction sometimes made between the different origins of what today (and has been so for thousands of years) is indistinguishable from 月 is entirely misguided, artificial, and continues to fail. Blatantly, the Ministry of Education tries to prescribe a somewhat boiled-down version of the 'Original Sin' (that was started during the Tang dynasty and taken up again by the editors of the Kangxi dictionary) and they <em>fail</em>. Read more about this in my lengthy answer here: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/12455/3674">https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/12455/3674</a>.</p>
<p>To answer the OP more constructively in broad terms: When Clerical script developed from Seal script sometime before the First Emperor of Qin, the goal was to find a way of writing that was easier and faster. Consequently, many rounded strokes were simplified to straighter lines, many components were written with a simplified outline, and some components were given an abbreviated form when appearing as a 'side-element' (偏旁); this is why we today have such forms as 氵 for 水, 亻 for 人, 灬 for 火 and so on.</p>
<p>In the latter case, some components that differed in Seal script were written with the same abbreviated form as a side-element, and this happened to 月, 肉, 舟, and 丹 (and some others, it would seem) that ended up as 月. Likewise, 舌 and two other components were confounded (or unified, depending on your point of view), which is why the readings of 活, 括 etc are <em>not</em> from 舌 (活 is explained as '从水,昏声'—no mention of 舌); 入 and 人 were not distinguished; 灬 sometimes goes back to 火 and sometimes to something entirely different (as in 馬 and 熊), and so on.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-02-17T14:21:43.377Z
2020-10-11T10:50:20.777Z
2020-10-11T10:50:20.777Z
flow
<p>This component we Chinese called “肉月旁” in oral. The component of meals which seems like moon.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T07:05:27.480Z
2018-01-23T07:05:27.480Z
Hao FU
<p>The 月字旁 was originally '肉' &amp; not '月' - 肉 has the meaning of 肉体 meaning 'flesh' or having to do with the 'human body' so it's often seen with body parts.</p>
<h1>Wikipedia:</h1>
<p>肉字旁：臺灣標準中，凡肉字旁的字，都寫作「提肉旁」即<img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wqA4w.png" alt="enter image description here" />，使其不會與「月字旁」相混。《字形表》中，肉字旁只在字的左旁時才寫作「提肉旁」，在字的右旁時採用首筆豎的方式與「月字旁」區分（「月字旁」在右方時，首筆為撇）。但在下方時，則「肉」與「月」首筆都作豎，兩者會相混。</p>


CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-09T02:33:11.867Z
I mirrored it [here](http://i.imgur.com/7whsJfg.jpg).
八带永
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-17T15:29:16.157Z
The Wikipedia article is not accurate. A look at http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/mu/mua30.htm?open, http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/sungti/as30.htm?open and following pages shows that when 肉 is written at the bottom it still starts with a slanting stroke and *is* distinct from 月.
flow
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-07T16:05:03.380Z
2014-12-11T11:43:15.353Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Mou某
<p>One thing I've been curious about while learning Chinese is the use of 月 in many 汉字 representing anatomical features (for example, 脸， 腰， or 腿).</p>

<p>What is the etymology of the use of 月 as a radical?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-07T15:59:37.587Z
It is not exactly 月. The two horizontal bars are actually a 点 and a 提, which in fact means 肉. It is still the standard writing in Taiwan. In mainland China, they have changed it to 月 for easier writing under the orthography of simplified Chinese
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-08T13:37:41.747Z
@user58955 I think I should mention in 舊字形 (old-style glyph, like in 康熙字典), the two horizontal bars are not 點 and 提. So, it may be not correct to say "actually a 点 and a 提". Anyway, in seal scripts, it's written just as 肉, and when developed to 隸書 (clerical script), they became two bars -- sometimes the second bar slanted a little -- but no standard said it should be 點提 in the old times.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-08T13:45:13.670Z
@Stan Point taken. Indeed, 正字通 says 《石经》改作月，中二画连左右，与日月之月异，今俗作⺼以别之。
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-12T04:36:15.987Z
Downvote because this is not contributing. Someone has already given a much better answer long before you did.
Wang Dingwei
<meaning><etymology><glyph-origin><characters>
Why is 月 used when speaking about anatomy?
# Why is 月 used when speaking about anatomy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-06-07)

One thing I've been curious about while learning Chinese is the use of 月 in many 汉字 representing anatomical features (for example, 脸， 腰， or 腿).

What is the etymology of the use of 月 as a radical?

**Tags:** meaning, etymology, glyph-origin, characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is not exactly 月. The two horizontal bars are actually a 点 and a 提, which in fact means 肉. It is still the standard writing in Taiwan. In mainland China, they have changed it to 月 for easier writing under the orthography of simplified Chinese  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I think I should mention in 舊字形 (old-style glyph, like in 康熙字典), the two horizontal bars are not 點 and 提. So, it may be not correct to say "actually a 点 and a 提". Anyway, in seal scripts, it's written just as 肉, and when developed to 隸書 (clerical script), they became two bars -- sometimes the second bar slanted a little -- but no standard said it should be 點提 in the old times.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 Point taken. Indeed, 正字通 says 《石经》改作月，中二画连左右，与日月之月异，今俗作⺼以别之。  
> **username_3**: Downvote because this is not contributing. Someone has already given a much better answer long before you did.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-06-07. Score: 20 | Accepted answer

The 月字旁 was originally '肉' & not '月' - 肉 has the meaning of 肉体 meaning 'flesh' or having to do with the 'human body' so it's often seen with body parts.

# Wikipedia:

肉字旁：臺灣標準中，凡肉字旁的字，都寫作「提肉旁」即![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/wqA4w.png)，使其不會與「月字旁」相混。《字形表》中，肉字旁只在字的左旁時才寫作「提肉旁」，在字的右旁時採用首筆豎的方式與「月字旁」區分（「月字旁」在右方時，首筆為撇）。但在下方時，則「肉」與「月」首筆都作豎，兩者會相混。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I mirrored it [here](http://i.imgur.com/7whsJfg.jpg).  
> **username_4**: The Wikipedia article is not accurate. A look at http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/mu/mua30.htm?open, http://www.edu.tw/files/site_content/M0001/sungti/as30.htm?open and following pages shows that when 肉 is written at the bottom it still starts with a slanting stroke and *is* distinct from 月.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-02-17. Score: 5

The distinction sometimes made between the different origins of what today (and has been so for thousands of years) is indistinguishable from 月 is entirely misguided, artificial, and continues to fail. Blatantly, the Ministry of Education tries to prescribe a somewhat boiled-down version of the 'Original Sin' (that was started during the Tang dynasty and taken up again by the editors of the Kangxi dictionary) and they *fail*. Read more about this in my lengthy answer here: <https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/12455/3674>.

To answer the OP more constructively in broad terms: When Clerical script developed from Seal script sometime before the First Emperor of Qin, the goal was to find a way of writing that was easier and faster. Consequently, many rounded strokes were simplified to straighter lines, many components were written with a simplified outline, and some components were given an abbreviated form when appearing as a 'side-element' (偏旁); this is why we today have such forms as 氵 for 水, 亻 for 人, 灬 for 火 and so on.

In the latter case, some components that differed in Seal script were written with the same abbreviated form as a side-element, and this happened to 月, 肉, 舟, and 丹 (and some others, it would seem) that ended up as 月. Likewise, 舌 and two other components were confounded (or unified, depending on your point of view), which is why the readings of 活, 括 etc are *not* from 舌 (活 is explained as '从水,昏声'—no mention of 舌); 入 and 人 were not distinguished; 灬 sometimes goes back to 火 and sometimes to something entirely different (as in 馬 and 熊), and so on.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2018-01-23. Score: -1

This component we Chinese called “肉月旁” in oral. The component of meals which seems like moon.


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