永, in oracle bone inscription, is like a tortuous flow of water. As the water flows forward all the time, 永 expresses “permanent”. Continue reading “永 a tortuous flow of water”
了 a baby wrapped in a blanket
了, in Small Oracle Script, is like a baby wrapped in a blanket, with only the head visible. There are just several characters formed by 了, among which 辽 and 疗 are the most common characters formed by 了. Continue reading “了 a baby wrapped in a blanket”
勾
勾, cognate with 句, serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “勾”
乐 a wooden musical instrument
乐, originally a pictographic character of a wooden musical instrument, serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “乐 a wooden musical instrument”
囗 enclosure
囗, ancient form of 围 enclose/enclosure and synonymous with 国 state, serves as a semantic component to form characters. Very interestingly, all the characters formed by 囗 have the same structure. Continue reading “囗 enclosure”