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.