Sunday 12 August 2012

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "八"


Today we shall examine another Chinese character "八". As mentioned in topic for "切", its Oracle script is . It was also created with "一", but unlike "七", this time "一" has been cut through to be divided into two parts. It is the subsequent result of Cutting (original meaning of number Seven "七") and thus was used to mean next number in sequence after Seven - "七". As "七" contains the meaning of "Cutting the cord", "八" is then to contain the meaning of "Baby is fully separated from its mother and becomes an independent person".

so "八" means Eight

Let us see its evolution history (image get from http://www.vividict.com):
Evolution History of 八

八 is borrowed from  , which means "divide" originally, to represent number Eight. Thus same as how Chinese ancestors has created "切", "刀" was added under "八" to mean Divide (with a knife) - by a new Chinese character "分".

As usual, now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy art with "八" inside:
八月湖水平, 涵虚混太清

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