Saturday 30 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 此

Our character today is 此, if you recall what we have learnt with Chinese character 止 and 化, you should know that 此 is composed of both parts: 止 (which means foot) and 匕 (which means human).

What is the aggregated meaning from the combination of a foot and a man? The place where the foot of a man stands - here, or this. Simple right?

We can examine its evolution history to confirm our observation: (image taken from http://www.vividict.com)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 此 
Its Oracle Script is quite obvious to have a man standing on his foot . Another Oracle Script write  and  left to right. Our current way of writing 此, followed .

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 此 inside:
海上生明月,天涯共此时;
但愿人长久,千里共嫦娟。

Tuesday 26 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 证 | 証

We have learnt 正 and 征 some days ago, if you have forgot their original meaning, please go back to review them first. Today we are going to learn a new Chinese character 证, whose Traditional version is 証. 

As usual, we decompose the character to two parts - 讠(which is 言 while being used as a Radical in Simplified Chinese characters) and 正.

We have known that 正 has the original meaning as "moving to target place", so what does it mean by adding 讠(言) to 正? By speaking or arguing, to reach a conclusion or to prove a fact. And when 证 | 証 is used as noun, then it is to mean a certification, which can be identity card (身份证), degree certification (学位证), marriage certification (结婚证) and etc.

Now let us examine its evolution history to gain better understanding of this character: (image taken from http://vividict.com)  
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 证 | 証
As we can see from its Seal Script - , it contains exact the same components: (言) and (正). 

Before ending our lesson today, let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 证 | 証 inside:
鉴古证今

Thursday 21 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 古

As usual, we decompose the character 古 to 十 and 口, which is literally ten mouths. What does ten mouths mean here? Before revealing the answer, let us examine its evolution history first: (http://vividict.com/)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 古
Recall what we have learnt of 十, whose Oracle Script is actually .  So  does have the same representation of  (which is 十) and (which is 口). One of its Bronze Script  actually changed  (口) to (Adding a dash to  to emphasising the meaning of speaking). With above information we gathered, 古 (which is 十 口) was created to have meaning of "something passed on by mouth of ten generations". That something must be very ancient. 

Yes, 古 means ancient.

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 古 inside:
琴鹤古香


Monday 18 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 吉

Today we continue our learning journey to Chinese character 吉. It is composed of 士 and 口 obviously. What meaning did Chinese ancestors want to represent with 口 of 士?

We have known that 王 originally meant the leader of a tribe, the big wizard, who can communicate with both heaven and earth. While 士 originally meant the assistant of 王, who were wizards as well. During a worship ceremony, 士 would surround 王 and speak blessings and good wishes.

Thus Chinese ancestors created 吉 to mean good or blessing, utilizing the fact that 士 speaks (by mouth - 口) all good wishes and blessings. And from how 吉 was created, we can appreciate why 吉 is normally used in the scenario of wishing somebody something good to happen.

We should have better understanding of 吉 with its evolution history: (image taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 吉

 One of Oracle Script of 吉 is is believed to mean a pavilion, which could be used for sacrifice ceremonies. Its other Oracle Script is almost the same shape as our current 吉.

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 吉 inside:
吉祥如意
Our next lesson will continue with Chinese character 古, which is composed of 十 and 口, can you guess its meaning?

Friday 15 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 士

To understand what is the meaning of our character today - 士, there are two hints we might need to know:

First, recall what we have learnt in our lesson of character 王. Comparing to 王, 士 are those person who donot have the capability to comminucate with heaven / gods. However 士 can still communicate with earth. Heaven represents spiritual while earth represents material.

Second, 士 is composed of 十 and 一, it means 士 is capable of demical arithmatical calculation: If an individual sum is 10, the result is represented with two digits. current position has value 0, and the adjacent left position would have a carry of the value 1.

With the concept from above two hints cobined, overally speaking, 士 is the person who is capable of logical deduction and can foretell or prophesy (an event in the future), based on material facts. They are mostly scholars or officers, working under 王's commands.

士 means scholars or officers.

Please note that the upper horizontal line of 士 is longer than the lower one. While we were learning 三, we knew that middle horizontal line of 三 represents human being. I think 士 makes the line, which represents people,  longer to emphasize 士 is a character related to people. Based on this understanding, we will then be not surprised to see another Chinese character 土, which has its bottom line longer. It is because 土 is related to earth.

Let us check the evolution history of 士 to have a better understanding: (image get from http://vividict.com)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 士

And also let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 士 inside:
国士无双

Thursday 7 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 恪

We have learnt 路 and 赂 in last two lessons. Today we continue with 恪. 恪 is composed of two parts: left hand side is 忄(Radical, which is 心, as mentioned before), right hand side is 各. 

What does it mean here? To answer that, we should ask ourselves a question: how should a person act when he sojourn as a guest in a foreign land? Be careful with what he says and does, right? That is exactly what Chinese ancestors would like to represent with 恪.

恪 means be Respectful and Cautious

Let us check its evolution history to have a better understanding of it. (Image taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 恪
From its Seal Script , we can tell that its left hand part is exactly 心 (heart). This 心 part was simplified to 忄starting from Clerical Script.

And now please enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 恪 inside:
恪勤笃信

Sunday 3 July 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 赂 | 賂

As usual, let us dissemble the character 赂, or its Traditional form 賂, to guess its meaning.

From its structure, left hand side is 贝 or 貝, right hand side is 各. We have learnt that 贝 | 貝 means treasures or money, and 各 has the meaning of "walking to my or our place". Why would somebody bring treasures or money to us? To bribe us mainly, unless he is a close friend of us.

yes, 赂 | 賂 means Bribe. And of course 赂 | 賂 also means "bring gift to somebody" when people visits his friends.

And let us examine its evolution history to have a better understanding of 赂 | 賂: (image taken from http://vividict.com/)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 赂 | 賂
There is no Oracle Script nor Bronze Script found for 赂 yet. Its Seal Script is obviously composed of and . Our current way of writing 赂 | 賂 is a clear continuation from .

Now it is time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy of 赂 | 賂:
贿赂