利

With our understanding of the the meaning of 禾, there are a few low-handing fruits in the Chinese characters tree for us to pick up. Besides 秋 we just learnt, 利 is another one.

利 is obviously composed of two parts: 禾 and 刂. And we already know that 刂 is indeed a 刀 when it is used as a Chinese Radical. So the most reasonable scene that 利 represents is probably following picture:

Harvesting

What is the underlying meaning that Chinese ancestors tried to represent here? The food or wealth that is being collected.

And as usual, examining the evolution history of 利 always helps:

Evolution history of 利

From its Oracle script, and its Bronze script:, there were two extra dots in the script: , which is believed to mean grains.

As skipping drawing of the  would not undermine the representation of 利 itself, we can see that they were eliminated starting from Seal script:  and result in our modern form 利.

so 利 has the meaning of benefits, wealth, goodness that comes together with 禾. for example: 利益. And it can be used as verb to mean benefit as well. for example 利己.

And farmers grow 禾 from small grain seeds in Spring and later harvest abundantly in Autumn. 利 thus contains the meaning of collecting of extra / multiplied gains from labor or time. for example 利息.

Also not forgetting the 刀 part of the 利, it enables 利 to contain the meaning of sharp, for example 利刃.

That is all for 利, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 利 inside:

苟利国家生死以；岂因祸福避趋之。