Monday 5 December 2016

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 搬

Answer revealed, 搬 was created in place of 般 for its original meaning: "move / transport (people or goods) by boat", by adding another hand (手 transformed to 扌as Chinese Radical) to 般. So now you would not be surprised that 搬 pronounces exactly the same as 般.
Evolution history of 搬 has been shown below: (image taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org)

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 搬
Seal Script has the extra 手 added below 般, while its Clerical Script  has already changed to 扌which was put on the left side to 般.

So 搬 means to move (things around). And it is eventually extended to mean to move or stir up anything. For example: 弄是非 which means "stir up to sow discord among people".

That is it. Now time for us to enjoy its Chinese calligraphy:
运水搬柴皆是道,住坐卧均为禅

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