The story of 卒

soldier, die

卒 is the picture of a clothes with a cross marking on the end of its Chinese style collar, (襟, the two pieces making up the front of Chinese Jacket), which is also the most narrow part of the collar, so 卒 has the meaning of 'smallness' and 'termination'. In Japanese, 卒 in 卒業 (graduation) bear the meaning of 'termination'.