Learn one Chinese Character a day - 王

Today we examine a new Chinese character 王, from its composition, we can see that it is formed with 三 and |. During our lesson of Chinese character 三, we knew that it refers to Heaven, People and Earth. The | in middle of 王 connects them. In ancient China, the person who could communicate with Heaven and Earth would be chosen as leader of the tribe.

So 王 originally meant leader of a tribe, and as the society was developing and growing big, 王 was used to mean King of a kingdom eventually.

王 was later used as a Family Name in China as well.

To confirm our observation, let us examine its evolution history: ( screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 王

Oracle Script of 王 denoted the same idea clearly as well thatis "an adult man 大, standing on earth with his head touching sky."

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 王 inside:

旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家

Next lesson we will move on to 皇, can you guess its meaning?

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 多

Today we continue our learning journey with 多, as you can see that 多 is composed of two 夕, what is its meaning then? two moons or two sunsets?

Let us check its evolution history to get more ideas: (image get from http://www.vividict.com )

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 多

From Oracle Script of 多 - ， it is clearer that it was created with two (which should be meat. You can review the lesson of 肉 at http://xiongzou.blogspot.sg/2015/12/learn-one-chinese-character-day_28.html ). In ancient society, when hunters successfully hunted down an animal, they were supposed to get more share of meat as reward. So eventually Chinese ancestors drew two pieces of meat, which is , to mean more or extra. And it was also extended to mean a lot as well.

As the drawing of  meat -  is quite similar with moon - , it might be a mistake to write it as 夕during Seal Script period.

now it is clear that 多 is actually two piece of meat which means more or extra. And 多 can be used to mean a lot as well.

To end our lesson today, let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 多 inside:

多福

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 名

Today we will examine a new Chinese character 名, it is composed of 夕 and 口. From its evolution history below, it is quite obvious that 名 was created with relation to sunset and mouth. As we have mentioned in our previous lesson that 名 means name of a person, you might be wondering how that is deducted from 夕 and 口?

below image is gotten from http://www.vividict.com :

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 名

The logic is that: when it is in darkness (夕), name (名) is necessary to call (using 口) a specific person.

So 名 means Name.

When it is combined with 小: 小名 means nickname.

When it is combined with 大: 大名 means official name used for legal documents, or famous / renowned.

Now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 名 inside:

三十功名尘与土，八千里路云和月

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 夕

夕 is actually quite close to one Chinese character we have already learnt. Before revealing the answer, let us examine its evolution history first as usual ( image get from http://www.vividict.com ):

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 夕

From its Oracle Script, you will definitely realise that 夕 should be related to 月 (moon).

At beginning of Oracle Script period, 夕 was exactly the same as 月 (which is). Eventually it was changed to in Oracle Script period and  in Bronze Script period, which was to remove the indicator   from .

During night, moon can be seen very clearly, that is why Chinese ancestors added the indicator   to emphasise the visibility of the moon. Removal of the indicator   means that moon cannot be seen clearly. When is that then? Sunset or twilight! That is the logic behind why Chinese ancestors utilised (夕) to mean twilight or evening. We have to admire how smart Chinese ancestors were from the way Chinese characters were created. And in our next lesson I will show you again how Chinese ancestors utilised two very simple characters to create a new one to present a very complex & abstract meaning - name of a person.

For our lesson today, Clerical Scriptcontinued from Seal Scriptand eventually transformed to 夕 now.

夕 means Evening or Twilight. And 夕 can also mean Night as we can see moon during night too.

Now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 夕 inside:

夕阳无限好

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 沙

While we were learning "水", it has been mentioned that when water is used as Radical to form other characters, it is normally simplified as. So 沙 is to add water to sand . It refers to sand next to river water.  沙 is kind of a proof that 小 or 少 was created with drawing of sand.

Somebody also explains that at river side, when water ebbs (水 becomes 少), sand will appear., that is why 沙 means Sand.

沙 is then also extended to describe something as small as sand or like the texture of sand.

Let us examine its evolution history to confirm: ( screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 沙

There was no Oracle Script of 沙, for was originally used to mean sand. From Bronze Script till current modern writing 沙, the concept is clearly the same along the path of transforming.

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 沙 inside:

旧日沙鸥

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 少

Comparing to 小, 少 contains an extra 丿at the bottom. What is its meaning? Let us check its evolution history to get some clue. (screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org)

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 少

As we can see that Oracle Script of 少 - is actually same as that of 小. They were same character when they were created! As time passed, three dots - , which becomes 小, is used more to mean Small, while four dots - , which becomes少, is used more to mean Smaller or Less. As 少 was created same as 小 originally, 少 can mean Small too.

Let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 少 inside:

百川东到海，何时复西归。少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。

As and are used to present abstract meaning like small, less and etc, how would Chinese ancestors create another character to mean sand then?

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 尖

尖 is obviously composed of two parts: 小 and 大. What Chinese ancestors would like to present is something with very small end and other end big? You will get a better idea with image below:

Cold Weapons 

Looking at the weapons, they have a very sharp and small edge at the top. 尖 is a Logical Aggregate character which means the Sharp Tip of something. And it is then extended to mean Sharp as well.

There is no Oracle Script of 尖, the earliest time it appeared was during Regular Script period, as shown below: (screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 尖

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 尖 inside:

小荷才露尖角

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 小

Today we examine a new Chinese character 小. What could be its meaning? A better way is to check its Oracle Script and Clerical Script, as shown below: (screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 小

From its Oracle Scripts and , it is believed that Chinese ancestors used 3 or 4 dots to mean sands at the river bank. As sands is very small, 小 is then used to mean Small. We will later show you one proof which supports this guess.

And from its Warring State Script till its Clerical Script  , we can also explain that is composed of 八 and， 八 originally meant Divide, in this way means to divide  to make it smaller. So means Small.

That is it. Now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 小 inside:

会当凌绝顶一览众山小

As we have learnt 小 and 大, can you guess what could be the meaning of 尖 then?