The story of 堇

clay, drought

堇 depicts a man with a jade ornament hanging on his neck burnt in fire, represents human sacrifice for raining, jade is auspicious, which makes the sacrifice more faithful. The original meaning of 堇 is drought, but such meaning has been replaced by 熯, 堇 also means beautiful jade, but then replaced by 瑾. On the other hand, 堇 is also used to describe something difficult, but such meaning has been replaced by 艱。