Saturday 28 January 2017

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 才

We have learnt 門 with its related characters like 闩,  開 and 關. Our next target will be 闭 | 閉.
闭 | 閉 contains character 才 inside. So today we check the meaning of 才 first. Maybe we can get some good idea to reason the meaning of 闭 | 閉 with the understanding of 才?

From its current form of 才, we find no way to know what it means. Let us seek help from its ancient scripts as we always do, as shown below (image taken from http://vividict.com)
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 才

Recall Oracle Script of 草 - , and look at Oracle Script of 才 -  again,  we can see what 才 is the drawing of "grass () just sprouts from earth ()". Like what shown below:
That is then naturally to have 才 to mean just recently, or start. For example 刚才.
As grass just sprout, there is only little to be seen, 才 can mean "just, or only". For example 他才两岁.

Chinese ancestors recognised the capability of living grass which demonstrates the amazing life force. Thus eventually 才 is extended to mean capability or talent as well. For example 天才.



Now with the understanding of 才, so the original meaning of 闭 | 閉 is that "grasses sprout at floors of a door"? Do we perceive the meaning of 闭 | 閉 correctly?

Anyway let us enjoy our Chinese calligraphy with 才 inside:
三分天注定,七分靠打拼;爱拼才会赢。

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 关 | 關

Today we move on to another character related to 門 - 關, whose Simplified version is 关. What does it mean? Quite clueless here. Same as 开 | 開, we could probably get help from its ancient scripts, as shown below (image taken from http://vividict.com):
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 关 | 關
Bronze Script of 关 | 關 - is quite obviously a drawing of following picture:

關门
 So Bronze Script emphasises the state of the "door as closed but not locked or latched". Another version of Bronze Script emphasises the state of "door as locked or latched", by using a 串 we just learnt. A baris put through two bolt holesto lock the door properly.

Its Seal Script however added (which is ancient script of 丝, here probably refers to rope) to emphasise the meaning of using rope to lock the door. Modern form 關 is a continuation from , which is obviously composed of 門, (which is 丝 - rope) and (which is the drawing of locking system of the door).

Simplified version 关 should be created from its Cursive Script - .

So it is clear now that 关 | 關 originally means "closed door". From here, many meanings have been developed for 关 | 關.

关 | 關 means to close or to shut down or to stop.

As  is the drawing of closed door or gate, 关 | 關 can be used as noun to mean gate, or checkpoint or even customs. A typical city gate in ancient China:
城關
And while door is closed everybody inside cannot leave, thus 关 | 關 is extended to mean imprison or take into custody.

关 | 關 is also extended to mean relate as verb or relationship as noun, like 关系. I guess it is probably because of its Bronze Script , 串 under a 門 (note that 門 can also mean a family) contains the meaning of strong bounding of family members.

That is pretty much all for 关 | 關. Now it is time for us to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 关 | 關 inside:
雄关漫道真如铁;
而今迈步从头越。


Wednesday 11 January 2017

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 串

Before we move on to 關 which is related to 門, let us examine another Chinese character first: 串. It is actually a very vivid drawing of something similar below:
Different 串 of stuffs

Yah, you are right that 串's original meaning is: "use a stick or string to link-up or to group many similar stuffs together"

We can also confirm our understanding by checking its ancient scripts (image taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org/)

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 串
Oracle Script of 串 has not been found yet. Its Bronze Script does be very similar as what we are writing now - 串. 

So when 串 is used as verb, it means: link-up or group similar stuffs together using sticks or strings.

While it is used as noun, it means: similar stuffs being linked-up or grouped by sticks or strings.

And while it is used as a Chinese Radical, 一串 means one group of similar stuffs linked-up or grouped by sticks or strings. for example: 一串烤肉

Chinese ancestors were so smart that they thought "what can 串 mean as well if the two rectangles of 串 are two mouths (口)?" That is why 串 was extended to mean "collusion", for example 串供.

With the same idea, two rectangles can be used to refer to two gates or places as well (we have known it while learning 路), so 串 can also be used to mean "visiting friends' homes one by one for social connections" or "visiting different places one by one for social connections", for example: 串门.

That is all for today. Now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 串 inside:

建平辣串

Saturday 7 January 2017

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 开 | 開

Today we move on to another character related to 門 - 開, whose Simplified version is 开. 開 clearly demonstrates its relationship with 門.

What does 开 | 開 mean then? A bit hard with its current form. Let us see whether we can get some help from its ancient scripts:
Learn one Chinese Character a day - 开 | 開

From its Bronze script , we can see what the 闩 is being operated by two hands

, which is quite close to what we see in below picture:
開门
So  refers to open or to close the door? That is ambiguous from how it was written. Chinese ancestors tried to make it clearer with its Seal Script - "horizontal bar is separated by hands to open the door". Starting from its Clerical Script  was simplified to  for writing convenience.

Yes, 开 | 開 means "to open".

And as the drawing of  also contains the meaning of "start to open the door", 開 means "to start" too.

Since we need to operate 闩 to open the door, 開 contains the meaning of "to operate" as well.

That is pretty much all for 开 | 開, now it is time for us to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 开 | 開 inside:
精诚所至;
金石为开。



Tuesday 3 January 2017

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 闩 | 閂

As we have learnt 门 and 户, we continue our journey with characters related to them. Today's 闩, whose Traditional version is 閂, clearly demonstrates the concept of adding a horizontal - to 门 or 門.

Its meaning shall be very clear as well if we know the lock system of Chinese style double door, as shown below:
Some examples of 门闩

That is right. 闩 | 閂 means "the horizontal bar(s) used to keep doors shut", as a noun.
And of course 闩 | 閂 can also be viewed as verb: "shutting door with horizontal bar(s)"

Let us remember the structure of Chinese  ancient style double door, it can help to explain lots of other characters like 開, 闗, 閉 and etc. We will get to them soonest.