鮮 (鲜) is made up of 魚 (鱼) / yú / fish and 羊 yáng / sub-family caprinae which includes sheep and goat.
Pronounced in the first tone (level tone: xiān), it means “fresh”, which is easy to understand. Fish and sheep/goat meat are strong in smell, especially if they go off, so they have to be fresh. (I know, I know, the logic should be a character that indicates “not fresh” as they smell so strong, but then I tend to choose a path that makes it easier for my students to understand / remember.)
Another reading for the same character, however, is a third tone version (xiǎn), which means “rare”, e.g.,
鮮有 / 鲜有 / xiǎn yǒu / “rare have” = to be few and far between
鮮見 / 鲜见 / xiǎn jiàn / “rare see” = to be seldom met with
鮮為人知 / 鲜为人知 / xiǎn wéi rén zhī / “rare by people know” = to be little known
Now, isn’t that interesting: that “fresh” and “rare” should share the same character!?
Here's my personal theory. In ancient days when the written script first came into being, technology hadn’t got to the point of making transporting fresh food fast and easy.
Therefore, fresh fish would’ve been rare, because a huge tract of China is away from the sea and even from rivers.
Ditto fresh sheep/goat meat: China doesn't have that much land for rearing grazing animals like cows and sheep, because so much of it is mountains or desert, so it’s not a country known for its dairy culture (haha, word play!).
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