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I understand that 上旬 means the first 10 days of the month, and that 下旬 means
the last (approximately) 10 days of the month. However, I would like to
understand the underlying logic for the choice of 上 and 下 for the beginning
and end (respectively) of the month.

After all, the later days of the month have higher numbers (21 22 23 etc), so
isn't it counter-intuitive that they labeled with 下? There must be a different
logical interpretation...
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2018-09-05T00:26:06.033
61342
2018-09-05T02:01:33.090
25859
question
words kanji etymology
In 上旬・中旬・下旬, why is 上 the start and 下 the end of the month?
In my comment above, I answered a bit tongue-in-cheek-ily that calendars have
the start of the month at the top, but if you want a concrete reference for
the meaning of it, one of the meanings of 上 is 順序が先のほう
([source](http://www.kanjipedia.jp/kanji/0003478400)). Another example of a
word that uses this meaning is 上巻 "first volume" (of a manga series, etc.).
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2018-09-05T02:01:33.090
61343
2018-09-05T02:01:33.090
20479
61342
answer