measuring box, 1.8 liter
升 centers on a traditional measuring container, specifically a box used for measuring volume, often associated with the unit of about 1.8 liters.
升 is a pictograph of a measuring scoop or box, with the top stroke representing the handle or rim and the lower part the container. The modern form retains this simple image.
The top stroke 丿 is like the handle of a measuring box, and the bottom 廾 looks like the box itself with its cross-braced sides. Together they form a traditional measuring container.
For ショウ, imagine a show where a performer uses a 升 to measure exactly 1.8 liters of rice: show -> ショウ, and the measuring box is the star of the act.
measuring container; measuring box; measure
one-shō bottle (approx. 1.8 litres)
one square on a grid; one cell of a grid
one shō (approx. 1.8 litres)
large mochi (usu. used for ceremonies)
shō; traditional unit of volume, approx. 1.8 litres
break and run out in billiards (9 ball, 8 ball, etc.)
selling by volume (esp. using a traditional wooden masu box)
tatami "box seat" for four people at sumo, kabuki, etc.
square (shape)
square framing (in a house, temple, screen, etc.)
alcohol (esp. sake) served in a small wooden box; alcohol (esp. sake) sold in a small wooden box
sheng (hexagram 46 of the I Ching: pushing upward)
bugbane (Cimicifuga simplex)
Japanese astilbe (Astilbe japonica); false buck's beard
Japanese bugbane (Cimicifuga biternata)
false anemone (Anemonopsis macrophylla)