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。