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

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