The evolution of character of Horse
The top: from Left to right: shell bone script, small seal script, clerical script, simplified song typeface.
Explanation
Shell bone script of character Horse (on the far left): It's a standing horse, just like the horse in the picture. Why is it a standing horse? Because ancient people didn't have paper, they could only draw on bamboo slips. But bamboo slips were narrow, so they couldn't draw horizontally, they had to draw vertically. On top is the horse's head and its big eyes, on the upper right is the horse's mane, the hair on the horse's neck, and below is the horse's tail. On the left are the legs.
Small seal script of character Horse (on the second from left): Still a standing horse. On the right of the three horizontal lines is the mane, and on the left is the horse's head. Below, on the left, are four legs, and on the right is the horse's tail. It's not as much like a horse as Shell Bone Script, but it still somewhat resembles one.
Clerical script of character Horse (on the second from right): Similar to Small Seal Script, on the top are the horse's head and mane, below on the right the curved hook represents the horse's tail, and below are four dots representing the horse's legs, slightly shortened but indicating legs nonetheless.
The simplified song typeface of character Horse (on the far right): The mane on top is gone, and the four dots representing the horse's legs below have turned into a single horizontal stroke. This simplification of strokes allows for faster writing but sacrifices pictorial representation.
