Learn one Chinese Character a day - "从"

We have learnt the Chinese character "人" and "众". Today let us look at "从".

"从" is composed of two "人" with one "人" behind another "人". It does not mean two persons or a small group of person which has less "人" than "众". Chinese ancestors use this drawing to means Follow.  "从" is one "人" following another "人". "从" is created by the method of "会意" to use two hieroglypgic "人" to represent meaning of Follow or Fellowship. It is an so-called associative character (hopefully my translation is correct.).

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "从"

 let us see the evolutionary history: image get from http://www.vividict.com

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "从"

 Oracle script  is one followed by another . Another Oracle script has added  (which is one side of a road cross ) . has more clear meaning that is one person walking along the road followed by another person. When it evolved to Bronze script  further added foot to mean two walking on their feet.

Modern Traditional  Chinese character "從" followed the path of , while Simplified Chinese character "从" followed the path of .

 So "从" or "從" means Follow.

Since a person follows another person in some project, it means he/she participate as well. so "从" or "從" also means Participate.

And since a person follows another person, it means he/she is dominated by another person, so "从" or "從" also means Subordinate.

 Let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with "从" or "從" inside:

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "从"

 Next day we will check the meaning of "比", its Oracle script writing is , remember what we learnt just now , can guess the meaning of ? it is another Chinese character created by method of "会意".