Most people are familiar with the characters 元旦 (“Yuán Dàn”), but do you know why the first day of the year is called 元旦?
Continue reading “Decoding 元旦: 一, the Smallest but Mightiest”Category: Pictograms
List of pictograms
Chinese pictograms depict the objects they represent in a pictorial way, and they are the most original form of character formation. In this post, you can get the list of pictograms with pictures showing the character evolution. Continue reading “List of pictograms”
丰 a utensil filled with jade strings
丰 is 豐 a pictographic character. In the oracle bone inscription, the top of 丰 is like a utensil filled with jade strings, and the bottom is like a 豆-shaped container. Continue reading “丰 a utensil filled with jade strings”
丹 cinnabar
In the oracle bone inscription, the outer shape of 丹 is like a mine, the horizontal stroke inside indicates there is cinnabar. Continue reading “丹 cinnabar”
秋 a cricket
秋 is shaped like a cricket in the oracle bone inscription to express the concept of “autumn”. Another way of its original writing in oracle bone inscription is to add a”火 fire” under the shape of a cricket, which means that the crops are ripe in autumn and they are like burning fire. Continue reading “秋 a cricket”