Watch picture and learn character (32）(Animal Front) Tooth - 牙

The evolution of character (Animal Front) Tooth

From left to right:

Bronze Script, Big Seal Script, Small Seal Script, Clerical Script

Lion front teeth 

Pinyin of character Tooth: Ya1.

Explanation

Bronze Script: The front teeth in view of side. Tiger, Lion, Wolf, Dog, Leopard, etc. all have the big, sharp front teeth, different from molar. Unlike the molar, the upper teeth are not counterpointing match with the lower teeth. 

Big Seal: similar to shell bone script, but there is a touch point of upper tooth with lower tooth. 

Small Seal Script: more touch points, the horizontal line on the bottom becomes a turning curve to make the character symmetric, the typical structure of small seal script.

Clerical Script: most lines are straight, lost pictography.

The character is used for Human tooth too, but it is exchangeable with character 齿（齒）because human front teeth are not like animal front teeth which are interlocking each other.

Watch picture and learn character (31）Tooth - 齿（齒）

The evolution of character Tooth 

 

From left to right

Shell bone, big seal, small seal, clerical, Song style

 

Pinyin of character Tooth: Yi1

Explanation

 

Shell Bone Script: The mouth of human, the four teeth. The teeth are omitted, and it is impossible to draw all the teeth.

 

Big Seal: The top is character Stop, and the bottom is the teeth, but not the teeth of people, and the second is the teeth of animals such as mice. The "Stop" above indicates that the upper gum is basically not motionless, and the lower gum is moving. When chewing, the upper gums of the human teeth are immobile or rarely moved.

 

Small Seal Script: The top is character Stop, and the bottom is the tooth, like a human tooth. The bottom box has four similar to wave which are teeth, two on top are upper teeth, two on bottom are bottom teeth, separated by a line.

 

Clerical Script: The top is character Stop, the four similar to character Person in box are teeth.

 

Simplifying the Song Typeface: the top is character Stop, and there is only one character "Person" in box below, that is, only one tooth, which is simplified. 

 

Watch picture and learn character (30）Volume - 册（冊）

 The Evolution of the Character Volume

 

 

From left to right:

Shell Bone Script, Big Seal Script, Small Seal Script, Clerical Script, Song Typeface

 

Bamboo Book

 

Pinyin of character Volume: Ce4.

 

Explanation

 

Shell Bone Script: A small rope binding written bamboo slips together, representing an ancient bamboo book. It's important to explain to children that in ancient times, there was no paper. It is said that Cai Lun (蔡倫) invented the technical of making paper in the Eastern Han dynasty occurred about 1,700-1,800 years ago. Although simple paper making workshops existed in the Western Han and even in the Warring States period, large-scale papermaking began only after Cai Lun. Bamboo slips were the primary medium for writing before the invention of paper.

(Note: While some argue Shell Bone Script was carved on bones, the presence of the character 冊 indicates that people wrote on bamboo slips even then. The existence of bamboo slips has all been rotten and gone by time, but the bones remain, preserving this record.)

 

Big Seal Script: Similar to Shell Bone Script.

 

Small Seal Script: Similar to Big Seal Script.

 

Clerical Script: A vertical line runs through the center, sealed at the top and open at the bottom, possibly representing a type of bamboo book.

 

Song Typeface: Similar to Clerical Script.

 

The meaning of 冊 is closely related to the modern concept of a book but is not exactly the same. 冊 refers to a part of a book, not the whole book. For instance, in textbooks like "Language Arts Volume 1" and "Volume 2", because bamboo slips could not hold many characters, multiple slips were needed to compile a volume. Thus, one had several volumes. The phrase "loaded with knowledge equivalent to five cartloads" didn't actually refer to many books but to numerous volumes of bamboo slips that required carts for transportation. Today, due to many characters could locate on a thin paper, a single book doesn't have multiple volumes. In Shell Bone Script times, 書 (shū) meant "to write", no meaning of 冊. Even now, 書still signifies "to write" (e.g., calligraphy, writing, scribbling quickly), while 冊 has always meant a volume of book.

Watch picture and learn character (29) Arrow - 矢

 The Evolution of the Character Arrow

 

From Left to Right

Shell Bone, Bronze, Big Seal, Small Seal, and Clerical Scripts

 

Pinyin of character Arrow: shi3.

 

Explanation 

 

Shell Bone Script: Represents a simple arrow. The arrow tail looks like bent vine or bamboo, suggesting that ancient arrows were made this way. During this period, bronze was available, but iron was not.

 

Bronze Script: Looks like an arrow, but there's a large black circle in the middle. It’s unlikely this represents a piece of metal, as it would affect the arrow's speed and direction. Instead, it may represent a weather vane. Though weather vanes from the Big Bone period haven't been found, possibly due to rust, a similar concept existed in 12th century Europe.

 

Example of a European weather vane:

    

A rooster standing on an arrow.

    

It's plausible that ancient Chinese weather vanes were also arrow-shaped. The Han dynasty used birds for weather vanes, known as "Following Wind Bird" (相風鳥).

Example of a Han Dynasty weather vane:

 

A bird-shaped weather vane used to measure wind direction.

 

The large black circle in the Bronze Script might indicate the balance point of a weather vane, allowing it to pivot with the wind.

 

Thus, the character had dual meanings: 1) arrow and 2) weather vane. Big Bone Script likely represented an arrow, while Bronze Script depicted a weather vane, imbuing "矢" with connotations of direction: vector and determination.

 

Big Seal Script: Similar to Bronze Script but with a black dot above and longer strokes above the dot. The black dot represents the pivot point of the weather vane.

 

Is this an indicative character? The black dot doesn't necessarily convey the meaning of the character, unlike "本" where the horizontal stroke indicates the root of a tree. Instead, the dot marks the pivot point, not the meaning itself, suggesting it's not strictly an indicative character.

 

Small Seal Script: Similar to Big Seal Script, but the central dot is replaced by a short horizontal stroke due to the absence of dots in Small Seal Script.

 

Clerical Script: The arrowhead becomes asymmetrical, and the lower strokes split apart, losing its pictographic resemblance.

 

Given the dual meanings of "矢" (arrow and direction), it caused confusion, leading to the creation of a specific character for "arrow" (箭). Over time, "矢" more strongly conveyed meanings related to direction and measurement.

 

Watch picture and learn character (28) Neat - 齐

 The evolution of the Character Neat

 

From Left to Right: Shell Bone, Big Seal, Small Seal, and Clerical Scripts, Simplified Song Typeface

 

 

Pinyin of character Neat: Qi1.

 

Explanation 

 

Shell Bone Script: Depicts three rhomboid leaves of the same height, representing the scene of bean sprouts emerging from the ground.

 

Big Seal Script: Still shows three leaves, but the middle one is noticeably taller. This representation is less uniform.

 

Small Seal Script: The top part shows three leaves, with the middle one being taller. If you interpret the side leaves' stems as continuing downward while the middle stem is blocked by two horizontal lines, it seems strange. More likely, the top shows three sprouts and the bottom represents a long, oval pot. This makes sense as during the Small Seal Script period, productivity had greatly improved, and flower pots were more commonly used.

 

Clerical Script: Similar to the Small Seal Script but the left leaf turns into "刀" (dao1, meaning "knife") and the right into "氏" (shi4) with one horizontal stroke removed, essentially opening up the two rhomboid shapes. The left vertical line at the bottom turns into a slant, making it less like a flower pot.

 

Simplified Song Typeface: The top part is replaced by "文" (wen2), which slightly resembles the middle leaf but eliminates the other two leaves completely. The bottom part becomes a slant and a vertical line, losing its pictographic quality.

 

Watch picture and learn character (27）Heart - 心

 The evolution of the Character Heart is 

 

 

From Left to Right: Shell Bone, Big Seal Script, Small Seal, Clerical Scripts,

 

Heart

 

Pinyin of character Heart: Xin1.

 

Explanation

 

Shell Bone Script: Depicts the shape of a heart. This indicates that even in ancient times, people had a keen interest in the heart, possibly that of animals such as pigs.

 

Big Seal Script: The bottom part represents the heart, with a dot in the middle serving as an indicator to emphasize the location of the heart. The two curved lines on each side likely represent the blood vessels connected to the heart.

 

Small Seal Script: Similar to the Big Seal Script but without the central dot, and the bottom part is asymmetrical.

 

Clerical Script: The U-shape of the heart transforms into a rightward stroke (捺). The dots on the left and right represent the blood vessels, with the middle dot corresponding to the indicator dot from the Big Seal Script.

 

Song Typeface: Similar to the Clerical Script. The U-shape changes to an L-shape, with the three dots' arrangement resembling the Big Seal Script more closely.

 

Understanding the evolution of the character "心" helps in grasping the historical and cultural significance of Chinese characters, aiding in a comprehensive learning experience.

Watch picture and learn character (26) Well - 井

 The evolution of the Character Well

 

From Left to Right: Shell Bone, Big Seal, Small Seal, Clerical Scripts

 

 

Four-sided Well

 

Pinyin of character Well: Jing3.

 

Explanation

 

Shell Bone Script: Represents the shape of a four-sided well. In ancient times, the well's mouth was likely framed with wooden guardrails, which is depicted in this character. Later, stone replaced wood, and the corners became right angles. Four-sided wells are now rare in China but can still be found, especially in the south. In my hometown of Zhijiang, Hunan, these wells were common during my childhood, although the well edges were lower than shown in the pictures. Few remain now. In the north, round wells with smaller openings at the top are more common. Four-sided wells might be scarce in the north due to deeper water levels and loose soil, making vertical four-sided wells more prone to collapse. In the south, where water levels are higher, wells are usually found within two to three meters, and the soil is more compact, making open four-sided wells feasible. These wells are wide enough for multiple people to draw water simultaneously. The four-sided wells in Zhijiang had wide stone surroundings and cement platforms, convenient for washing clothes and vegetables.

 

Big Seal Script: Similar to the Shell Bone Script but includes an extra dot in the middle. This dot serves as an indicator to clarify that it refers to the well itself and its water, not just the mouth. This likely corrected misunderstandings from the Shell Bone Script depiction.

 

Small Seal Script: Resembles the Big Seal Script. Both Big and Small Seal Scripts are indicative characters due to the middle dot. However, the Shell Bone Script, Clerical Script, and Song-style characters are not indicative. The reason why there are fewer indicative characters in Song-style is due to simplification, which removed the dot, transforming indicative characters into non-indicative ones. Understanding the evolution of Chinese characters provides a comprehensive grasp of their meanings, aiding in learning.

 

Clerical Script: Returns to the shape of the Shell Bone Script.

 

This translation explains the evolution of the Chinese character "井" across different historical scripts and provides context about its cultural and practical significance in ancient and modern China.