Character Qi

It means “lean” or “tilt”; it can also exclaim “ah!”

欹斜 means slanting, while 欹危 describes something precarious; both use the physical sense. In an exclamation such as 欹歟, the character expresses admiration, a sense treated as a variant of 猗. 欹 is also a written variant of 攲, so a source may use either graph.

Why does 欹 appear in old texts?

An old story uses it in a vessel that teaches restraint.

During the Warring States period, an account in the Xunzi, a Chinese book of teachings, places a 欹器 in the temple of Duke Huan of Lu. Empty, it leans; half-full, it stands upright; full, it overturns. In the story, the vessel warns a ruler to temper knowledge, merit, courage, and wealth with humility.

A variant dictionary published by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education records 欹 and 攲 as written variants and points to the Shuowen, an early Chinese dictionary, among their older lexicographic witnesses.

What do 欹’s compounds tell you?

They shift the sense from tilting to literary reclining.

In the Tang and Song eras, 欹枕, also written 攲枕, describes leaning on a pillow in poetry. A 2015 study traces readings of the phrase from awareness to leisurely repose and loneliness; it reports loneliness as a major Song-era reading. This is a poetic scene, not a general chat convention.

Japanese dictionaries also list い, そばだつ, and そばだてる; the last two describe standing upright or raising something upright. These are Japanese readings. Chinese compounds such as 欹斜 keep the slanting sense.