In the 1981 novel "Red Dragon" — the first Thomas Harris thriller featuring archvillain Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter — the Sino-Japanese ideograph 中 (read naka or chū, and meaning center or middle) makes an appearance. It is composed of a rectangle with a line going through its center. Graphically it represents an arrow striking the center of a target.
In the game of 麻雀 (maajan, mahjong) the tile bearing 中 is inscribed in red on a white background, and nicknamed "Red Dragon." To tie it in with the book's title and narrative, author Harris uses it as an 糸口 (itoguchi, clue) that helps investigator Will Graham track down a serial killer. This tile, represented by the Chinese character "zhong" — which similarly means center or middle as represented by the symbolic arrow striking its target — therefore is also used to signify success or achievement.
As we shall see, 中 is not only an easy character to recognize, but applies well to all sorts of situations. We hear it in everyday speech when people say 真ん中 (mannaka, in the center of something) — sometimes emphasized as ど真ん中 (domannaka, smack dab in the middle) — in 中では (naka de wa, among the others); and その中 (sono naka, amongst).
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