Monday 25 March 2019

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 角

Looking at the character 角, it seems impossible to guess its meaning with its current form. Let us see what we can get from its evolution history: (image taken from http://vividict.com)
evolution history of 角
 Now looking at its Oracle scripts  and , and especially its Bronze script , They look much like what they draw, as shown below:


Yes, 角 is the drawing of a horn of a buffalo or sheep.

Since 角 has sharp tip, it also used to represent something that is at a corner or with sharp tip. For example 角落.

Since angle in mathematics looks like a 角 in shape, angle is called 角 in Chinese, for example triangle is called 三角形.

That is all for 角. Time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 角 inside:
羚羊挂角

Monday 11 March 2019

Learn one Chinese Character a day - 群

Now we move back to 羊 with our character today - 群. We now know both parts of this new character : 君 and 羊. Combining their together we have the scene described: (somebody) holding a stick and shout aloud to shepherd the herd of sheep.
牧羊

So 群 has the meaning of a big group of 羊. Thus it is used to represent the meaning of a group. For example 羊群.

You might wonder why it is 君 plus a 羊, instead of adding to 君 with other animals like cows? I believe Chinese ancestors noticed a unique characteristics of sheep that they have strong instinct to gather together and blindly follow the leader. 


As you know, same Chinese Character can also be used as verb. It is same for 群 that it is used to mean "gather together to form a group". For example 群而不党.

Sometimes 群 is also used to mean together. For example 群居.

Before we end our study today, let us examine its evolution history as shown below (image taken from http://vividict.com)
Evolution of 群
Looking at its Oracle script , it is what we expected from its modern form - 群: a group of sheep  is shepherded under the command () of (a person) holing the stick .


That is all for 群, it is now time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 群 inside:
群贤毕至,少长咸集。