Thursday 31 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 背

In our lesson of "北" long time ago that its original meaning is "back to", since it was borrowed to mean North, Chinese ancestors created a new character "背" to mean the same.

Look at "背" carefully, its upper part is 北 with its lower part as "月". Here "北" contains the meaning as well as pronunciation. "月" is added to mean the "the back of a person". So overall "背" now has two major meanings, one is "Back of a person or something", second is "Go against".

Evolution history of "背" would show a clearer idea: (image get from http://www.vividict.com )
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 背
"背" started from Seal Script with "月" added below "北", before that I guess it was just same as "北". 

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 背 inside:
依然临送渚,长望倚河津。。。。如何相背远,江汉与城闉。

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 有

From the modern writing of Chinese character "有", there is no much clue here for its meaning. Let us check its evolution history first:
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 有
We can now see it clearly from its Bronze Script  that it is to grasp  () the meat (). Clerical Script transformed the part of the Seal Script to , which  is now commonly used to present (with the meaning of a hand or to grasp)

So "有" original meaning is to grasp a piece of meat, and it means also to own a piece of meat.
Eventually  "有" is used to mean Have, Hold, ContainOwn, or There is/are.

Let us end our lesson today with a Chinese calligraphy:
山不在高有仙则名,水不在深有龙则灵




Monday 28 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 肉

"肉" is another typical Pictographs character. Does not it look like the below image very much?
Especially  of "肉" clearly refers to texture of ribs. Instead if we examine the evolution history of "", it is actually transformed along the way to like meat more. Below is the screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org .
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 肉
Please note that Seal Script of "肉" - . It looks very similar as another Chinese character "月 (Moon)", which we have learnt before. That is why we will see that "月" was used in creation of many Chinese characters where the "月" refers to meat instead of moon.

"肉" means Meat or Flesh. And its pronunciation in Mandarin is "rou", which is coincidentally close to roast.
It is then extended to mean Human Body
"肉" is also extended to mean Pulp of Fruits.

Now it is time for us to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy to end our lesson today:

宁可居无竹, 不可食无肉。





Sunday 27 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 又

又 is a very commonly used Chinese character and its variations were  also used as radical to help creating many other Chinese characters.

Let us examine its evolution history first: ( image get from http://www.vividict.com )
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 又
Oracle script till its Clerical script  is the drawing of hand with 3 fingers. It has been learnt that Chinese character "手" is a drawing of a hand with 5 fingers. Chinese ancestors differentiated them to use to mean holding something. This original meaning has been replaced with "有" ( we will get to it in our following lessons ). The reason to choose drawing of 3 fingers of a hand might be related to a Chinese sayings "It is very firm to hold an escargot with only 3 fingers" (三个手指抓田螺- 十拿九稳), below is the image showing you the exact idea:



And below image is a typical dish made in my home town with river escargots. 


"", modern writing of , lost its original meaning to "有", and now it only keeps its extended meanings as:
1. “Again” or "Repeat",
2. can be used as conjunction to clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause as And, sometimes as But or However,
3. it can be used as an emphatic character in a sentence to enforce the meaning of the phrase after it.

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 又 inside:
山重水复疑无路,柳暗花明又一村。

Wednesday 23 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 母

As we have mentioned "母" in our lesson of "好" that its meaning of Mother, let us examine its evolution history to see the reason behind. (screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 母
The columns from left to right are Oracle Script (甲骨文), Bronze Script (金文), Scripts used in Warring States Era (戰國文字), Seal Script (篆文), Clerical Script (隸書) and Regular Script (楷書).

Oracle Scriptis to addto (Oracle Script of "女") to emphasize the fact that Mother () of a baby is the woman who breast feeding it.

It is clear that current way of writing - "母" was a continuation from  of Warring States Era.

母 is extended to mean Female as well.

Now it is time for us to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with "母" inside:
昔孟母,择邻处。子不学,断机杼。



Monday 21 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 好

It has been learnt in our last lesson that "女" means Lady, Woman or Unmarried Young Girl. And it has been learnt as well that "子" means Child, or sometimes Son specifically.

What is then the meaning of this character "好", which consists of "女" and "子"?
Before giving explanation, let us examine its evolution history first: (image get from: http://www.vividict.com )
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 好
 Oracle was created to mean a holds her . Below drawing is a vivid view of this character-
What would be the meaning of that our Chinese ancestors wanted to express here with such a scene? Maybe I should ask what kind of feeling you would have when you see such a view instead?

That must be a good, beautiful and touching moment! 
Yes, "好" (with Pronunciation hǎo ) has the meaning of Good, Beautiful, Perfect or Fine
"好" was then extended to mean Friendly, or Satisfactory, Completed, Easy. It can also mean Very as adv.

While "好" (with Pronunciation hào )  can mean Like, Love as verb or Hobbies, Interests or Favourites as noun.  

As you can see "好" conveys many positive and good meanings. Somebody is curious why Chinese ancestor chose the combination of "女子" to mean Good instead of "母子" (母 means mother) ?  That is hard to answer. But it might be the will of God? Using "女子" to mean Good is coincident with the Bible story that Saint Maria gave birth to Jesus Christ as a virgin. And Christmas is coming, "好" is probably the best Chinese character we can learn for this merry season.

To end our lesson today, let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with "好" inside:
敏而好学,不耻下问

Saturday 19 December 2015

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 女

From current writing of "女", it would be very hard to guess its meaning. Looking at its Oracle Scripts and the evolution history could help a lot. Below screen shot is taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org :
Learn one Chinese Character a day – 女
Oracle Scriptis a lady sitting on her feet with arms crossing. Below is a drawing showing how it should looks like. Japanese and Korean are still following such tradition in their daily lives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiza


Bronze Script is the lady  wearing a hairpin. A typical hairpin with its usage is shown below. It can be a proof that living standard during Bronze Script period had been improved a lot from Oracle Script period.
Hairpin
Clerical Script was very likely a continuation of from Warring State Era. It was then further transformed to our current way of writing - "女".

So "女" means a lady
"女" also means woman.
"女" can also be used to mean unmarried young girl. 

After "女" was created, it was used as a commonly used radical to help to create many more Chinese characters. We will see one in our next lesson.

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy as usual:
关关雎鸠,在河之洲。 窈窕淑女君子好逑