on top of 大?What is on top of a standing man? You might have some ideas already. Let us examine its evolution history first to see whether we can get more clues there: ( image get from http://www.vividict.com )
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| Learn one Chinese Character a day - 天 |
is the drawing of a man 
with an emphasize on his head 
. used to mean Head of a man. This original meaning can only be seen in ancient articles, like "刑天舞干戚，猛志故常在".When it slowly evolved along the way, Bronze Script
has started to simplify to solid dot. And it was further transformed to become 
in Seal Script and 
in Clerical Script, which is very close to what we use now - 天. Recall that can be used to mean Sky or Earth during our lessons for Chinese character "二" and “三”. So the above a standing man can only be Sky. That is why 天 is eventually used to mean Sky, while it is no longer used to mean Head. That is also why 天 has a subtle meaning of Above Head when it is grouped with other Chinese characters.Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with "天" inside:
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| 春江浮浅渚，去住任飞鸿。秃管缘偏厚， 痴钱债不空。亦知俱梦幻，未敢问天公。 手把南华读，遽然待折衷。裁以黄磁竹， 赏之白玉卮。年年上元节，多放两三枝。 |
And our next lesson will continue with another Chinese character, whose Oracle Script is
, guess what could be its meaning?
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