兑 | 兌

Today we move to character 兑, whose Traditional version is 兌. 兌 not particularly different from its Simplified counterpart - 兑, but we can tell that it is related to 兄 we just learnt. What does the header  or represent here, together with 兄?

Before guessing its original meaning, let us examine its ancient scripts first:

 We can see that there is no obvious difference between 兌 and its ancient scripts shown above.

兌, which is 兄 plus . As we have know, 兄 is the person with authority in the family.  should be 八, which we also know to contain the original meaning of divide. So 兌 is to present that oldest brother excises his authority to divide (something) among his clans.

while Simplified version 兑 is more likely to represent the 兄 is speaking  or commanding.

During the process of dividing benefits among clans, people would exchange their shares with others for something they are more interested in. 兑 is thus used to mean exchange. for example: 兑换.

And during the same process, 兄 would fulfill his promise to clan members who contributes more, 兑 thus also contains the meaning of fulfill or realize (the promise or agreement). for example 兑现诺言.

That is all for 兑, time to enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 兑 | 兌 inside:

春播一禾，秋兑一梦。