Monday 31 December 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 牢

Today we examine another character related to 牛: 牢. It is the drawing of a house roof (Radical 宀) with a buffalo (牛) inside. What is the meaning of 牢? Cattle-shed where a buffalo is locked in.
牢 - cattle shed

That is 牢's original meaning. 牢 is also extended to mean any places where prisoners or other animals is imprisonment. For example: 牢房.

Since 牛 is very important property of a family, which is a very strong animal, 牢 need to be built very firm and secure. that is why 牢 is further extended to mean firm and secure as well. For example 牢固.  The same meaning can be concluded from firmness and security a prison should have.

Before ending our study today, evolution history of 牢 would give us better understanding of this character: (image taken from http://vividict.com)
evolution history of 牢

Oracle script  is put  inside a (fence). When it comes to Seal script , Chinese ancestors added an extra  to lock the  inside properly.

That is all for 牢, let us enjoy a Chinese Seal Art with 牢 inside:

牢城朱记

Thursday 20 December 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 美

we have just learnt 羊, our character today is 美, which is composed of 羊 and 大. What does it mean here? well, offering a big and fat goat or sheep without blemish is a good and beautiful thing to God.
a big and fat goat

Before jumping to conclusion, let us examine its evolution history as usual: (image taken from http://vividict.com/)
Evolution history of 美

From its Oracle script, it is believed to be composed of horn of a goat or sheep () and (大). It is further strengthen by its Seal script to write its top part as 羊. 

Please also note that some people believe of the Oracle script refers to decorations made of flowers or horn of a goat / sheep, which I disagree with.


Yes, 美 means good or beautiful, for example 美人.
琵琶美人图 

美 can also be used to mean: to make something good or pretty, like beautify. For example 美化.

When we say something is 美, it is to praise it. 美 thus has the meaning of to praise or to extol, for example 赞美.

美 can also be used to represent anything that is good or pretty, for example 美中不足.

That is all for 美, time to enjoy a calligraphy with it inside:
积健为美

Monday 3 December 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 哞

Yes, the character that was created to replace the original meaning of 牟 is 哞, with an extra 口 added to 牟.

And yes 哞 means the sound made by a cow or buffalo: moo

 And enjoy a Chinese Seal art with 哞 inside:
嗡玛尼呗美哞

Monday 19 November 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 牟

Our new character today is 牟, which is related to 牛 as well. From its current form, we are not sure what does its upper part  represent. It ancient scripts might be of great help, as shown below: (image taken from http://vividict.com)
evolution history of 牟

Now we can see from its Oracle script that initially the upper part was , which is 口. Recall what we have learnt with 鸣 | 鳴. We know that 牟 originally should mean sound made by a buffalo.

Starting from Seal Script era, was slowly changed to , which madeis very close what we write today: 牟.

As we known, First Emperor of Qin dynasty burned all books in China, and emperors of Han dynasty tried their best to rescue all ancient books by gathering elders to tell stenographers from their memories. Stenographers sometimes would write down a temporary character which has the same pronunciation in place of the correct one. Then eventually some characters were borrowed or phonetic loaned to represent same meaning of some other characters.

牟 is one of such characters. It pronounces the same as 谋, thus 牟 sometimes can replace 谋 in certain phases where 谋 should be used. So same as 谋, 牟 is also used to mean seek, strive for. For example 牟利.

The original meaning of 牟 is then represented with a newly created character. If it were you, how will you create the new Chinese character?

That is all for 牟, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 牟 inside:
魏牟尺纵,裴度千缣
ps: story of "魏牟尺漇 裴度千缣" can be read here: http://www.yibei.com/krecord/4ecf47937e021e5b51259980

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 伴

The character today we are examining is 伴, which is obviously composed of 人 and 半. If we would like to guess its meaning, following could be the possible combinations:
a). A person who divides a buffalo into half;
b). A person is divided into half;
c). It is as if a person divided into half.

Option a) sounds like a butcher, or someone like tribe leader who divides sacrificed buffalo to each member.

Option b) is quite unreasonable to have a character created for cutting a person into half.

Option c) is interesting. When we would like to describe how close two friends are, we probably say they are as good as one person.

Option a) or c) cannot be ruled out. let us see what is its ancient scripts for more ideas (image taken from http://vividict.com):

Evolution history of 伴

We now can tell from its oracle script that 伴 refers to two persons together. Option a) is thus eliminated.

One of its Seal Script  already started to use and to mean two close friends.

So 伴 means a companion, for example: 同伴.

Since two friends always hang out together, 伴 has the meaning of together, accompany as well. for example 伴随.

If we recall the story from Bible, creation of 伴 surprisingly fits well with the story that "Eve is created by taking one rib from Adam". We Chinese also call husband and wife as 伴侣.
伴侣

That is all for 伴, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 伴 inside:
花香伴君如梦境,清茶淡酒品人生。

Monday 22 October 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 判

Yes, the character is 判. Note the knife (刂) is added to 半. The original representation of 判 is then clear now: using knife to divide the Buffalo into two parts.

Let us check if there is any surprises from its ancient scripts: (image taken from http://vividict.com)
Evolution history of 判

So there is no surprise. There was neither Oracle Script nor Bronze Script for 判. Most likely Chinese ancestors used 半 during that period. Starting from Seal Script, knife () was added to form , which is pretty much the same as our modern form 判.


判 has the meaning of break down, separate or distinguish. for example: 判别.

In ancient China, it is always a very important and crucial matter to divide the Buffalo fairly to all members of a tribe, normally by tribe leader. 判 thus was born to contain the meaning of judgement and making decisions with authority, besides its original meaning. So 判 also has the meaning of judge, identify or determine. for example: 裁判
The 审判 from King Solomon

That is all for 判, it is now a time for us to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 判 inside:
。。。 朝议郎,判尚书,武部员外郎,琅琊颜真(卿书)。。。

Monday 8 October 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 半

our character today - 半 is also related to 牛, though it is not that obvious. We can see their relationship clearly in its ancient scripts below: (image taken from:)
evolution history of 半

from its Bronze script , it is composed of (八) and (牛). Recall that 八 has the original meaning of "divide". so  has the original meaning of divide the buffalo into half.

Its Clerical Script  transformed a lot and was eventually evolved to its current form: 半.

Eventually 半 is borrowed to present the meaning of half, or part of  something, or not whole of.

As usual, Chinese ancestors then created a new character to represent the meaning of divide buffalo into half. Before revealing which Chinese character it is, what would you add to 半 for creating the new character?

That is all for 半, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 半 inside:
半亩方塘一鉴开,天光云影共徘徊;
问渠哪得清如许,为有源头活水来。

Monday 24 September 2018

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 牧

After learning both important and common livestock 牛 and 羊, we now start to examine a few Chinese characters created with them.
Our character today is one of that - 牧. What does it mean? It is composed of two parts : 牛 and 攵, of which we know that 牛 means Buffalo, while what does it mean by 攵?

As usual, we can get the help from  its ancient scripts shown below: (image taken from: http://vividict.com)
Evolution history of 牧

It Oracle Script  is a drawing of a hand  holding some stick or whip  to (control) the buffalo , like below paint:
牧牛图
So 攵 actually represents "a hand holding a stick or whip". Sound familiar? recall what we learnt on http://xiongzou.blogspot.com/2016/11/learn-one-chinese-character-day_28.html regarding 殳.
Its Bronze Script followed the Oracle version but swapped 牛 and 攵. The Seal Script  continued with Bronze Script.

So 牧 has the meaning of cowherd, and is eventually used to mean pasture or shepherd any herd, or even manage or govern people. In ancient China, some officer titles were named with 牧, like 徐州牧, which means this is an officer who governs the state called 徐州.

That is all for 牧, let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 牧 inside:
牧石人