also: ろくしょ
the six classes of Chinese characters
Traditional classification of Chinese characters into six categories based on formation and usage: 象形 (pictographs), 指事 (ideographs), 会意 (compound ideographs), 形声 (phono-semantic compounds), 転注 (derivative cognates), and 仮借 (phonetic loans).
See also: 象形 · 指事 · 会意 · 形声 · 転注 · 仮借
The six classes of Chinese characters is a traditional classification system that explains the origins of kanji.
the six historical styles of writing Chinese characters
Refers to six calligraphic or script styles, sometimes called 六体. Less commonly encountered than the classification sense.
See also: 六体
Hexateuch (first six books of the Hebrew Bible)
Only with reading ろくしょ
Restricted to the reading ろくしょ. A specialized term in biblical studies.
The term 六書 can also refer to the six historical styles of writing Chinese characters.
六書 can refer to the first six books of the Hebrew Bible.
Standard kanji spelling; reading りくしょ is the most common for the character classification sense.
Alternate reading; also used for the Hexateuch sense (sense 3).
From Chinese 六書 (liùshū), literally 'six writings'. The term has been used in Chinese philology since ancient times to categorize Chinese characters.