Watch picture and learn character (12) Turtle - 龟（龜）

 The evolution of character Turtle            

 

From left to right: 

shell bone, big seal, small seal, clerical scripts, and simplified song typeface.

 

                        

                            

Back view of turtle (left)                     Side view of turtle（right）

 

The character Turtle – 龜 is pronounced Gui1

Explanation

Shell bone scripts of character Turtle: The back view of turtle (the left top): the top is head, the middle is body, and there are 4 legs. The side view of turtle (the left bottom): the top is head: the top is bird head, the bottom is body, the left are two legs, and the right is the shell. 

Big seal script of character Turtle (middle left): Similar to side view of turtle: the top is head, the right is shell, the left are legs, the center is body, and the bottom is the tail.

Small seal script of character Turtle: Similar to its big seal script of character. 

Clerical script of character Turtle: Similar to older scripts, except the center is empty T, which is the body, more like the real turtle. 

 

Simplified song typeface of Turtle (the left bottom): Similar to back view shell bone script: the top is the head, the middle 田 is the body, the long curve from the middle top to the right bottom is the tail. The 4 legs are eliminated. It is a very good simplification because the back view turtle is easier to draw or to write.