void, emptiness, unpreparedness, crack, fissure, untruth
虚 centers on the absence of substance: a void, emptiness, or hollowness. This extends naturally to cracks and fissures as empty spaces, unpreparedness as a lack of readiness, and untruth as a statement empty of reality.
虚 combines 虍 (tiger) with 丘 (hill), suggesting a hollow or empty hill. The modern simplified form replaces 丘 with 业. The character expresses hollowness or emptiness.
Imagine a tiger's den (虍) that is completely empty (业 looks like a hollowed-out space). The tiger has left, leaving only a void—this is emptiness.
For キョ, picture a key (キョ) unlocking an empty room: the key turns, but the room is void of anything. Key -> キョ, and the emptiness is revealed.
empty; void; vacant
falsehood; untruth; lie; misinformation
modest; humble
hollow; cavity; hole
unpreparedness
nihility; nothingness
fiction; fabrication; concoction
emptiness; hollowness; vacancy; void
falsehood; lie
cavity; hollow; void
vanity; vainglory
empty space; empty sky
feebleness; weakness; imbecility
virtual image
bluff; false show of power; bold front
imaginary number
ostentation; show; affectation
lethargy; despondency; mental numbness
absentmindedness; dreaminess; carelessness
falsehood and truth; fiction and fact