Fun With Chinese Characters 1 PDF

—— FUN WITH == CHINESE CHARACTERS The Straits’ Times Collection (1) nist: Tan Huay Peng @ FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS ‘Singapore + Kuala Lumpur + Hong KongPublished for The Straits Times by Federal Publications (S) Pte Lid © 1980 Federal Publications (S) Pte Ltd Times Jurong 2 Jurong Port Road Singapore 2261 First published 1980 Reprinted ~——_1982(twice), 1983(twice), 1985(twice), 1986 All tights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, ‘mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. ISBN 9971 4.60726 ted in Singapore by Chong Moh Offset Printing Pte LtdINTRODUCTION ‘The genesis of the Chinese script is lengthy and remote. Very little of its history and origin is known to us as there is a lack of documentary evidence. Of the various legends concerning the creation of the Chinese script, the comparatively acceptable legend says that it was Cang Ji 2 2, a minister of the Emperor Hudng Di 7%, , who first invented the script. It was the outcome of an extraordinary occasion on which Cang Ji observed the footprints of birds and beasts whose lines and shapes were distinct and discernible. Deeply inspired by the sight of this, he then drew the pictures of the objects in accordance with their shapes and forms. These pictures of the primitive age were further reduced to the essentials, conventionalized and in time highly stylized. In other words, they were reduced for the sake of simplicity to a few lines. These picture characters were often, especially in their archaic forms, very expressive and were called xiang xing 48, literally ‘image shapes” by the Han lexicographer Xii Shen 74 t& (30A-D.—124A.D,); or “pictography” by many a contemporary paleographer. In some cases, however, the so called “picture characters” were distorted beyond recognition. It is understandable that concrete objects such as phenomena of nature, man and his attributes, animals and plants, tools and implements and so forth are easily drawn and admirably adapted to represent language. Here are some examples: For representation of phenomena of nature, there were such pictographs as “sun” @ @ @, ye “moon” ) ) AL, the older the forms of the characters, the closer the resemblance between the characters and the objects. The characters shui “water” \ 7 (also abbreviated as three drops of water} when it functions as a determinative) and chuan “stream, river” "| were drawn as flowing water in a stream or river. The character shan “mountain” waa 4 dy is a clear, faithful picture of a string of hills, and the same may be said of the character yi “rain” 1 5 which is expressed by drops of water falling from heaven. A great number of pictographs relate to man and his attributes. The character rén “man” 4 4 2 AA was represented by a simple linear picture depicting a variety of manners in which aman might appear. For ni “woman” 2, de and mi “mother” 4, there were picture characters depicting the humble, kneeling and gentle manners of the fait sex. The two dots on the body of the latter symbolized the breasts of a mother. There were picture characters which symbolized the eye “mi” <> @ 8, ear (é) © Hf, hand (shot) } Y ¥ (also abbreviated as J when functioning as a determinative) and mouth (koll) tJ @ ete. (iii)The world of animals was also widely represented. We have such quadrupeds as hii “tiger” a B BRA, ying “snes” FOL Faxing “ceptane” FP 3 BR. wi “iorse® RB and chian “dog” 3 A (also abbreviated as 4 when functioning as a deter rminative). As for birds, the script distinguishes between nigo (ordinary bird) Wy 1s he and zhuf Ghort-taled bird) Qe fB ff In addition, there was yet another pieture, wa “crow” QR & , with the omission of a dot from the head of an ordinary bird. There were pictographs that denote plants and fruits. For instance, mi (tree) X oh A highlighted the branches and roots of a tree; cad (grass) YY Yt pf F depicted the upward shooting of buds, while zhii (bamboo) 44 Ab T$ described the dangling leaves of a bamboo tree; gud (fruit) 2 Zz ‘was a picture of the tree that bore fruit, So was the picture character mi(rice) ++ % X depicting grains of rice on top of a plant. There were numerous. pictures which bore witness to the growth of civilization in ancient China. Take a look at the characters for tools and implements; for instance, dao (knife) 5 J), che (cart, chariot) ae¥B# , zhoi (broom) . ming (bowl) 2< az , hii (wine vessel) £8 BE, yo Girt vesser) B GF, c& (document, book) MP M #t, yii (brush) 8 F and wing (net) 6a (abbreviated as wx ) and so on. The pictographs, which were to a certain extent comparable with the hieroglyphic characters, later evolved into the kind of characters which Xii Shén called “zhi shi” 48 , literally “pointing to matters”. In the West it was variously called “indirect symbols” or “indicative symbols”. Whatever term philologists might call them, these characters were ingeniously adapted by early inventors to render abstract ideas. As a result, the scope of Chinese script was further widened. The methods of creating such ideographs were many: the drawing of a meaningful symbol, the addition of a sign to a pictograph, making parts stand for wholes, attributes for things, effects for causes, instruments for activities, gestures for actions, to mention just a few. In a nutshell, the abstract ideas were rendered in a metaphorical or symbolic way. For example, by drawing one line: — , two lines: = , three lines: == or four lines: == (this ideograph is no longer in use now) the early inventors meant yI (one), &r (two), san (three) or si (four) respectively. By adding a dot or a line onto the horizontal line: — = L (now .) or below it: = = T (now F ), he meant shang (up, above) or xia (down, below) respectively. Similarly, by adding a stroke to the top of the pictograph “ A” tree( — +X ¥ A =H K A ), or to the lower part of it ( — +% RA = &K A A), he meant md (top branches, end of a branch) or bén (root, trunk) respectively. (wyWhile a horizontal stroke stood for yr(one), a vertical stroke | was then taken to mean shi (ten). It was later corrupted into +. A vertical line down the centre of a circle signified hGng (centre, the middle) ® ¥ . A hand drawing a bow and arrow, needless to illuminate, meant shé (to shoot with a bow) dy 4 AY, similarly, to thrust at a person with a spear could but mean fé (to attack) wR AE 1% Aman with crossed legs symbolized the notion of jifo (to cross, connection) 2 ; so did the picture of standing man unmistakably represent the idea of (to stand) ® A S.. As civilization advanced, rapid social changes took place. Things became so complicated that the hieroglyphic characters or the ideographs could no longer suffice for the expression of massive abstract notions. Just as the proverb said, “Necessity is the mother of invention”, a kind of phonetic script, called “xing shéng” #5 2 by Xi Shén, or better known as “determinative-phonetic characters”, was invented. The method of inventing determinative-phonetic characters was quite simple and yet most ingenious that the Chinese scribes could and still can invent new characters in unlimited numbers. Because of this, the growth of Chinese script had never been so rapid and before long the determinative-phonetic characters excelled the pictographs and the ideographs in rendering the language and thereafter they became the dominant class of characters in the Chinese script. The evolution of the Chinese script to this stage could be regarded as complete, and almost all the existing Chinese characters, except for five per cent or 50, are of this sort. This new method of creation might be viewed as a kind of phonetic writing which must, however, not be taken for an alphabetic script. It was simply the combination of a determinative indicating or suggesting the sense of the word and a phonetic indicating or suggesting the pronunciation of the word. The following examples will serve to explain how this simple, convenient and progressive method works: Determinative Phonetic ‘Compound ZK shui (water; + & af (his, her, its, qf (the River Qi) abbrev. y ) this, that; originally winnowing basket, now & ) % yi (jade; abbrev. 5) +H af = 34 ai (a valuable white stone or gem) AA mia (tree; wood) +h of = AHA ai (Chinese chess) w& shi (stone) +H of = K af (another variant of 4H which was made of stone) mi (horse) + Kai =Bplaf( a piebald horse) Ji Ws (deer) + af =/RM af ( fabulous, auspicious animal) & niad (bird) + shal =RE; qi @kind of wild goose) + Kai =A af (a period of time; a fixed date; AL yur (moon; time) ‘expect to) +H ie = HAGE i (a fl year; anniversary) RR ian (owe; deficient) + ai = BZ qi(to cheat; to oppress) A “AG «82 xin (heart) + ii =F ii (to poison; to hate) ti (earth; land; ground) + Kit =X i (foundation; base) TS zhi (bamboo; abbrev. *) + ir = FL ix (@winnowing basket) Hy cio (grass; abbrev. + ie air E ir (@ kind of grass) now %) + Hai = ZF A the stem of bean) Te shi (an omen; to manifest; + Hai = #§ af (fortunate; lucky) abbrev. 4 ) 4 = mi (the archaic form +4a = & i (dark grey; superlative) of & silk) $k ching (worm; abbrev. &) + Hg’ = Sb Gi (part of the word #8 HE which is a kind of crab) + & gijrorfi= The examples cited above were a series of words with the same (or approximately the same) pronunciation that could be written down with no possibility of confusion or misunderstanding at all. Thus $ af or ji or ji is always a phonetic, never a determinative in a compound word, though it is also the character representing such words as his, her, its, their, this, that, etc., in its own right, We may cite another series of examples in which the character #. mii (wood) is nearly always a determinative of a compound word showing that almost all the words, which amount to 1,585 included in the largest Chinese dictionary, have something to do with wood: wi)Determinative Phonetic + 4 bo (final particle) A mii (wood) + K -bo (final particle) + + bii(to divine; to foretell) mi (wood) + & ti (earth; land; ground) + A fin (to turn over; to rebel; to turn bback) + A mil (wood) A mi (wood) A mii (wood) 4} mi (wood) + 2 gGng (public; open to all) A mi (wood) +] téng (together; same; alike; and; with) A mi(wood) 4+ mai (each; every) A mu (wood) + % pido (warrant; bill; ticket) A mi(wood) + huang (yellow) A mi(wood) + [Fav (cupboard; wardrobe) . A mu (wood) + AR lén (door-screen) 2% miu (wood) + i guan (heron; small cup) + e Tan (look; inspect) + % deng (to rise; to mount) 4 mb (wood) A mi (wood) (vid Compound Af pd (a kind of oak Quercus dentata; also the simplified form of #£ ) 4% po (an old knife-shaped weapon) #é¥)pii (simple and plain) 44 di (the russet pear; to shut out; to stop; to prevent) 4K bin (board; blocks for printing) lin (forest; grove; copse) song (the pine tree; loose) t6ng (a name applied to various trees e.g. sterculia platanifolia) méi (plums; prunes) bio (mark; beacon; signal; flag; notice) ;_héng (crosswise; horizontal; side way) gui (cupboard; wardrobe; shop-counter) - #8 lin (railing; animals’ pen) qun (weight; power; authority) = 4& tan (the Chinese olive) = #© chéng (orange)A further 1,550 such examples may be added to the list, if we wish, of which the character A. mit is always a determinative though it is the pictograph for wood itself, Furthermore, & mi can also function as a phonetic in the compound $4 mii (to wash; to bathe; to cleanse; to enrich’by kindness; to receive favours;etc.). Hence, apart from the fact that every pictograph and ideograph can be used as a phonetic, certain such pictures and symbols can be determinative as well. Since the number of determinatives was comparatively small, a radical system was devised to use the determinatives as a convenient means of classifying the characters in dictionaries, The first great dictionary Shito Wen Sie Zi VW VLSPE sho jiin dvd things appear youngster ai strange to the Dt sho ni young girl unfamiliar ve shéo shi minority DERIK shiéo shi min 23 ethnic minority DF shéo xi little; few ay dui shao how many; how DR stiéo you Tare; scarce; ba Example: RMP. ‘The wei sho ond chen mai I It means, “This young lady is beautiful indeed.” 20jian pointed; sharp [38 | By placing small (J*) on top of big (A) man ‘came up with an ideograph to describe anything that tapers rom big to small. Hence: meaning pointed or siarp or, figuratively, sharp-witted. But not all objects which are small at the top and big at the bottom are sharp or sharp-witted, as the examples on the right prove. as as FF RE iin ting vanguard A jin ke trenchant (of AD jin 60 sharp knife words; speech) RM jin din peak; apex RA jin ti sharp oie jan duan highest point Seb jan ru sharp; pointed AS jan 8 spire Example: RR-BAR MTD. Te shi yt 0 jit mui de do It means, “This is a sharp knife.” 2tidn From dawn to dusk man toiled in the field, taking to heart the proverbial saving: ‘Never leave your field in spring or your house in winter."" The character he shaped for “field” was a pictograph of a ploughed field with furrows and cross-paths: EH . By the sweat of his brow he reaped the fruits of his labour. But ail that toil has rice field; left its mark of furrows and cross-paths, not only on the field, but grain field also indelibly on his brow. Hy St tian di field or situation A tién yuan fields and gardens (of something) THRE tin jing sai athletic HAS ian jt frog competition He tian jing track and field géng tidn plough AEF tian ye open country Example: —-f#-EWH BRR HK TS Yi nid yr di de tid jing sai you jiang 161 ine It means, “The annual athletic competition is round the corner again.” 22strength; force, power 7] ‘The modern version ( 77 ) is a powerful graphic impression of the forearm with muscles in tension symbol of ‘tre! present here muscles an demonstrated by e really strong character, one who is i In the original form ( jf ) the long middle line (S}_), curved at the top to take less room, represents the sinew that binds muscle to bone. The other line (7) pictures the fibrous sheath of the sinew. 7 Vi Niang physical strength; force na tigi effort; strength TR Viaid strive; make every effort nt i ating endeavour; fight for Example: i i hh 2m. Tad jié itd sth ang It means, "Unity is strength.” DAR TREY He Lite MW 11 bi céng xin Vi gid jin bd Hi ahieng shing you rén fi ability falling short of one’s wishes struggle for improvement aim high labour force; ‘manpoweroA A field ( EB ), where strength ( 22 ) is exerted, is the symbol for i “masculine” man 99, the male of the human species. This is probably fa because the home ia’ where the female of the same species exerts her an, strength. Our picture shows strength being exerted — by the male male; (¥ ) in field-work, the female (Z2-) in housework, and their offepring masculine (#) in promotional work. Pel [si8] | TTT TTT | A nan hai boy BF nin 2 man; male Br én nid men and women | AHA nan péng you boy friend BA én rén man BFR nn zi hin man; hero By rn sting male voice BBA oinninoinj men and women Bite nan xing male SAE nin ni ping déng equality of men BR ‘nan zhuang male attire and women Example: RS oO MB eB ES Win Gus héo chi stv du shi én xing It means, “Many good chefs are males.” 24. ri sun; day ‘The sun was first dey circle with mark the “day” man, the sun's shi the wicked as well a demonstrates that it sees ‘whole world with one eye. ig upon the good Gon [Jajale? [TT LT} 7 Aik i bao daily newspaper ag nxn daily wages AA Ri Bin Japan AR riy’ day and night ae i chang daily; usual at ng day: life Aik ict sunrise HEY ri guang yi sun bath Bx 1 guang sunshine BANE Ri NGI Wa Geneva Hic aji diary Bah 11 ying pin daily necessities a at calendar Hw AEiG rl chang sting — daily life AG ag date Serres tenes Ath ri shi (shi) eclipse of the sun | A LLHRAC nt yiiji ye day and night; non-stop Example: RWHREELWUMBAH. WE ming tizn yéo_shing san ding kan rh ch It means, “I'm going to the hilltop tomorrow to watch sunrise.” 25yue A moon; month ‘To form the character for moon (or lunar month) man chose the crescent "D. The riginal pictograph sigigested two phases of a was moon 3). Tilting it: then directing it earth tion — with striking conse- quences. Pictured here is a beaming moon casting i spell on some beaming moon- struck earthlings. AF yue bing mooncake Af ue se Air ue fen month Ath yu shi (shi) AX yyu® guang moonlight Ag ye jing menstruation AR yue xin AF yu Kan monthly AX yur ye publication FABEA ye xia bo rén ye liang moon 2A shéng yue AR yue pigo monthly ticket AIR yub gid the moon Example: Rii—- MAA, We AO. Ws mn yi midn shing yu, yr midn chi yud ing It means, “We ate mooncakes while enjoying the moonlight.” 26 moonlight eclipse of the moon monthly salary moonlit night matchmaker enjoy the moonlightAA ming brilliant; bright; enlightened ‘Man combined the sun ( € ) and the produce ai bright, moon ( J] ) to n ideograph for brilliant 9 enlightened. He called it “ming” ( Bf) ) and used for the bri t Dynasty of China whi in the wake of the Dark Ages of Europe. Today science and technology has ushered in the dazzling Space Age — with man very much enlightened and the future very much bedarkened. me wR 8 at a cr wae HS wa Example: RHA wm eB Wa ning It means,” ming bai understand; clear | BA BEALS ming bidn shi ‘ming liang shining; bright fei ‘ming ling bright and clear BA SKA nina md ztiang ming mai bright and ym beautiful BAS} ming ang an fae div ming nian next year fe as wings obvious A SRLBCAL ing at gh fan ining zhi eae 8 SAAECLE] ming zhi gi wen ting huing twing glaring; shining ning xin pidn postcard mde yl understand what you mean.” 21 distinguish right from wrong, openly; blatantly struggle overtly and covertly commit mistakes deliberately question knowingly‘As the sun (8 ) peeps above the horizon, its very first ray ( ” ) begins to dispel the shadowy haze of night. Hence, €] _, the symbol for clear, ite oF lain. Man easily understands anything that is bright ( @Al ) and clear (9 fo “bright and Cent” means to'undestand CORED). Appaseatin ths ieack always easily understood as our picture shows. LT 1) Vi jalafey | TT TE] Ax bai cai Chinese cabbage | ETE bai mang mang Att bai fi in vain; waste AB Bai Gong The White House | 4H _ bairi meng (official residence | A.M ER bai wud gid of the president | (4 F823% bai shu gi jis of America) AM bai hou diphtheria A& bai sé white colour HA tn bai Abe bai tang white sugar FERAA rhen xing 8 HK tai td white rabbit i Example: tht Rk Rw A, TE dui ws hin tind It means, “He is very frank to me.” 28 an endless whiteness daydream white corpuscle start from scratch; build up from nothing frank matter that is finally made cleardan dawn; daybreak ‘The daily appearance of the sun () above the horizon (_) gave man his concept of dawn ©. From the ly rising rose the proverbial : To get up is equal to preached ‘of the sun to ing — but it never dawned on him to practise it. ‘Teyefey2| TT Td Be dan mi, morning and TER evening ay dan x in a short while 7H HY Zia) din Tir jin within a single day Example: GTHREAK RM. Yeon din shi ging ging iid It means, "New Year's Day is a public holiday.” 29 hua dan yuan dan yi din prima dona in an opera New Year's Day once; as soon asjing BB | ones, sparkling To reflect his brilliance, man arranged three suns (2 Sinton symmetrical, geometric pattern and crystallized thie. into a sparkling ideograph and graphic symbol foreystal: el. For generations man has been gazing into his crystal ball but, crystakclear though it was, he couldn't see much ofa future init. He Jing ti crystal emh dh liang jing:jing shining ae Jing ying lustrous; brilliant | 7Kiih shui jing crystalline Be jing ti guén transistor Shite ii@ jing result; product; crystallization Example: RAPK WS SHAW AR. Dre bin sh shi tH Ou nidn yén idee It means, “This book is the result of his many years of research.” 30id ‘The guiding mark | (meaning first) is the first of the “‘ten stems” — the decimal cycle of time reckoning. Originally written: “+ it was later en- first; cased ina square: (2) . To differentiate it from EH (field) the vertical line armour or Wasextended downwards: Ef! . A subsgquent modification came to suggest TMOUr OF Mhelmet” because of Gp. By extension; the modern form protective — &H covers a whole range of hard protective coverings like armour, shell: Covering scales and nails used not only for protection, but also for aggres HR ji ban deck of a ship fl fa ii yo soft-shelled turtle FA ji8 chong beetle FIC ik gh wen inscriptions on He ji dng first class or first oracle bones grade FARR ji8 zhuang xian thyroid gland - Be, iia ke jacket SEFFER huang ji8 bing armoured corps % ji8 gigo crust Example: Hip e Ae PR b fe HEB. You xi duo rin zai jidn ‘bin shing 20d ci ung yi It means, “There are many people sunbathing on the deck.” 312Ko fA early; morning ® (meaning early or morning) is the time of the day when the sun (2) ) has risen to the height of a man's helmet (+H). pis the old form of, originally ing helmet. Since ther meaning of EB (-+ ) se Fig first (-F) sun ( & ), that is, moraing: (a | Be 0 an good morning ALE zo nian ELBE zéo ban morning shift LM) zo qT ALE wo can breakfast Ba zo ri nA tio co morning exercise | io shang ad 70 chén early morning LR zo wan ue zo chin early spring Ait wo tion marrying too early Example: wae em, Ging zo ri gH. It means, “Please reply as soon as possible.” 32 one’s early life early stage at an early date (early) morning morning and eveningAA | i @ refreshing character for any person ( A’) working near a shady tree (A ), It Meraly means “rest (4K) pd pictures e person (A. or “fo J ieuning. against & tree (JR). OF the tree the Chinese proverb laments: “One wenera: Hon‘ plants the trees’ under thos shade another generation Taken its case. Exemphitving this, we show a character leisurely basking in the sunshine and leaning himself against a. tree planted by an older generation. [et te the xi hui adjourn (meeting) | (K3® xid yang recuperate or TRA xi0 ji on leave convalesce 1K xi0 xi rest or relax troll. xid ye wind up (business) AKA xiv xién lie fallow (land) RAR vxig han ceasefire KAR id xing don’t expect KE xi zhiéng rest and reorganize thee xi xué suspend one’s Rak xiv 2h cease or stop schooling without losing one’s status as a student Example: th eR be BK FR. Te wi yt yun i xi ying It means, "He is recuperating in the hospital.” 33the sun rise every day. He ceeded one morning when he observed the sun ( &) ) through the trees (AE ). So sun ( G1.) behind tree (7) beca ). For tunately, success did “not turn man’s head, otherwise he would have been left facing the wrong direction. *]F [4 ]&] — — ing Fang the East dong feng east wind ARPSG IE Ong Jing Tokyo AR FS ing du Eastern Europe dong xt things; East Aa BAL and West ADR — ong bin gid eastern RG hemisphere AeA A Oiing Fang Rén Orientals Example: KBAR HH ER, Tai yang yu ong fang sheng shang (di It means, ‘The sun rises in the east.” 34 ong Nan Ya ing bén x zbu dong shan zai qi ong Xr Nan Béi ing zing xT «ang Southeast Asia busy oneself with stage a come-back East, West, South, North gaze (or peer) soundhatehing up a new form: character for west: @. (#9), the combination ‘which ‘As the sun settles in the west birds roost in their nests; so a crogs-hatched bird's nest provided the cradle for ‘‘west”, and nest became west, imagination conceived a new ideograph Man's fertile fa nest with a brooding bird: 25 inally developed into g full-fledged east ( $) and west Wak xi bian west side ae x can Western-style food a7 7 fang the West Pa XI a watermelon vais) XT HO West Lake in Hangzhou wae southwest Fa Western Europe Example: AA tS HT. Xr qe yu dud ahiing 2 It means, "A watermelon has many seeds.” 35 X7 Yang ay Xi Zing a ahuang x7 ban gid Xi Ban Ya XT B6 Li Ya the West a doctor trained in Western medicine Tibet Western dress western hemisphere Spain Siberiashang Since up and down, above and below are relative and abstract terms, man conveyed the ideas graphically by relating a simple stroke to up: horizontal foundation line (—). This stroke above the base Tine was above; originally a dot extended to propped upright: ascend embellished:_2 and finally sta LHE ‘shang ban go to work HR shang former generations LE shang bei one’s elders 4 shang ding cheated be shang bin distinguished guest; | _/3F shang déng first-class guest of honour | “Fp shang dt God LE shang cing Heaven; God LR shang higher authority EK shiang cb the best plan ik shang Ke attend class LE shang céng upper strata bes shang Kong in the sky; “by shang ching appear on the ‘overhead . stage bie shiing yéu upper stream, EK shang chung go to bed Example: ee ate cee Ts shing ban gi le It means, “She’s gone to work.” 36The concept of down and below is clarified in relation to a horizontal line. The stroke below the fundamental line was originally a dot: which was extended to a line: = for ease in writing. The modified forms: "T and “F eventually led to the final ideograph: “F . The characters below, although literally under water, are figuratively above water. THE xia ban be off duty PR xia jf lower level PE xia bai the younger ala xia jian mean; degrading ation of a FB xia jidng descend ae ae TE xia kB class is over Fi xb bad plan PK xi Ll come down Te xid cing lower level Fe x8 tng instruct; order TA i ching end; fate Fie xia lid despicable LS sink FR xb whereabouts Ve xia déng low grade Example: th F FRE AM, Ta xis wo do gh Kin xt It means, “He is going for a show in the afternoon.” 37zhong middle;neutral By shooting an arrow: | right into the centre of a square target: a bull's-eye Imark for contre”: FH. added & decoration of four Stripes, 2, rearranged them: ripped them off: €B, and finally hit his mark for’simplicity: CB. The symbol also means standing in th middle oF neutrality ( Unfortunately, in the appiic tion of neutrality, man has completely missed his mark. | 1 Pap ang bis central section HAE ‘Thong Hu China hag zing can Chinese meal "Pe ztrang jfan middle thee ‘hing céng middle-level Aa zhang Hi neutral pee chong céng intermediate range | 4 thong nién middle-aged he ztiang ding middle-class aie ating 16 midway AR Thing Ding the Middle East HI ‘hong wen Chinese language HB hong din break off pay ‘ong xué secondary school +e ‘Thong Gué China Example: fh th pe a Ta chi shénzhing dng jit ting He comes from a middle-class family.” 38nd Awoman Xf under the hand X of a master signifies slave XR. The Rand put together literally mean “handmaid” — a fe with her hands. 23 includes slaves of both sexes who serve th slave; Salhi, Mant BSL inclaes staves of on servant [Ty fe ex] | | [TTTT ue nd oT female slave WE ni xing servile RA 16 cai flunkey; lackey 7 a disposition Wie iy hus enslave WE nd yi slavery wt nd i slave WSC nd i ati gd slave system Uh 6 pt male slave Example: oR HR CR RR. Ni hi ob yi Ha It means, "Slavery has already been abolished.” 39you ‘The character for “friend” originated with two right hands. acting co-operatively zx in the same direction SL ‘and later reaching out to clasp cach other in 7 friendship “St. By placing the hands, one upon the other: ind, with a littl friend straightening out, man derived the modern reinforced form: 3C IAG WE @ TAR RE you ai friendly affection | KA you rén friend BB vyou bang friendly nation RE you shan friendly Bat you hao friendly Bik you yi friendship At you ging friendship AAETRRE — ybu ho xié ding friendship pact Example: fh KR 1 RK, Te shi ws te No ping yiv It means, "He is my good friend.” 40‘THE earllest pictograph for hand placed undue emphasis on the "B. Practical experience, however, put man on thé fingers ¥. Finally, straight lines the character assumed ihe modern form 4 with fingers of lnequal length. For, as the proverb goes, “Of the ten fingers, some radical for fare long and some are short.” $ proved handy as numerous characters with its variants { and +. ML a Pez2aLL TTT TTT Tt Pe shou bi arm Sb shi jin towel FE shi ti somebody's own Fe shu kao handcuffs Martel or | Fe shbu ging pistol . bt FAR shi shi surgical operation ER sti biéo wrist-waten ee sfibu shi handwritten letter Fit shibu cé handbook $e shiv tio gloves ao shou duan means; measure Sry shiv didn ting torch Fi shu 18 skill; tricks 43 ‘i shiv lig dn —-hhand-grenade $I shi gong handwork ee a etd Example: fe Ae ea We yu yT shag sh It means, “I have a pair of hands.” 41=)" spear; lance i Is & pletographic representation of an ancient weapon of war = & speariike lance equlD- Ped with ‘hook and crossbar, Although this and other ancient ‘wespons are now obsolete, man has not even begun to beat his ‘swords into ploughshares or his spears into pruning hooks. [=[ePg)3a SORE Gabi the Gobi Desert FR gan g@ weapons; war SPLAT dio ge xidng betray one’s own xiang party Example: 1b F&A Ao Hui an 98 wéi yi 66 It means, “Stop war and make peace.” 42THE earliest forms show two spears against each other in direct confrontation: 4 , Ing a 54 when,man wields in his hand $ a spear %& his ego, the “1, emerges. Hence 4%, (AF eae | | LI) Fan wo men we RE woah I love you FRAN wh men de our; ours FRATILH — wo xing wo si persist in one’s ‘old ways Example: KEKER RK RK RWB ILE eT. Di jig af bang WS, wi lng a in mudi jd “BH NaS er gn win ido It means, “With each one giving the other a helping hand, they soon got the job done.” 43THE classical character tor “you”, an equal, was 75, 2 pictograph: of Balance if Toad eventually contracted to ‘jt. By adding A (person)to 7, man Intreduced the human element and came up with 47 - a Son who carries the same ih eee “1 TT TTT TT | Phy nit ho how do you do FE BORE nV zhi wo gin try to overtake ft i cach other in ttt ni men you (plural) friendly ni men de your; yours (plural) emulation 1 iw bud life and death struggle Example: fy HF Mp NC tio ma? It means, “How do you do?”, “how are you?”."hello” 44yé +8 ORIGINALLY the character & was stato also; in addition to a sel, To this day It has remained =a pletograph the ye ba let it be HLT yé ho may as well {htt ve xing all right {hit ye xi perhaps wea yé you also have Example: fh hit BR. Te ye oxi lai It means, “Perhaps he may come.” 45‘THE character 4 is drawn from A. (person) and t (also). By extension It means “that person also” and refers to the other person: he o she. ‘that 8 chu ‘189 tide ‘ArT ta men ALA, ta rén Example: fh 2 —- DK, Te si we yi to elsewhere ft tan his fhe ta xiang they the other person | {HAC taiji It means, “He is a fisherman.” 46 some other day place far away from home himself1 ITS primitive form the eye was plctared naturally with eyellds And pop When stylised: C2" is similarity. to eo (tour) Gecelved man’s eyes. so It was stood. on end: Q and faally ‘squared off: 6 . it would seem that even with his very own eyes ‘ould nol sce eye to eye. Ate mi bigo aim mi qian at present Bay mid purpose; aim; goal mj song watch somebody Ble mi di witness; see for g0 oneself mi xia now; at present Bt mi guang sight; vision; view md bd zhudn jing stare BM md jian sce for oneself img déng Kou dai stunned an eyesight mi Kong yi gié — supercilious Bx md contents page or ini zhing wi én look down on index (of book); others; be catalogue overweening Example: RA A ROR Se Me. Ws md ofan hadi) aang. jenn It means, “I don’t intend to get married now.” 47FOR the verb “to see” the eye was set atop man A . ‘As the eye grew, man shrank to produce the regular form {2 now simplified to {i . RAR appear in the newspaper TL jian gut preposterous. She jidn j opinions Rit Jian tiang excuse me; forgive me SR jfén midn meet Wik jidn shi widen one’s knowledge; enrich ‘one’s experience Example: RE WT A. Wi bi jidn te yr bin sho It means, “I lost a book.” 48 SUE jidn wen knowledge ie jin xi learn on the job TU jin ido effective RE jién xian laugh at (me or us) SUE jan zhéng witness; testimony ALSEEIE jidnyi stqian fickle; inconstant LX HA jiin yi ying wei ready to take up the cudgels for a . just cause AIL bi jian lost; disappearedIN THIS Ideograph man raised his hand 4 above his eye 8 to cut off the sun’s rays in ‘order to see clearly 4. From this experience he aiso saw clearly the polnt of the Chinese jerb: “You cannot cut off the sunlight with one hand.” Miidiaca ec acae Bi kan bing consult a doctor a kan gi keep abreast of Be kan chun see through Be kan ging underestimate Bt kan dai look upon; regard: | 4'F kan zhéng take a fancy to treat ae kan zhong think highly of Bl kan dao catch sight of; see | JAH kan bu guan cannot bear the BiE kan fa view; opinion sight of GR kan jian see AGH Kan de gi think highly of BK kan lai it looks as if ‘SARAD ling yén xiang —treated favourably Bik kan pa see through an Example: fhe RG WM. Ta shi Idi Kan ting de It means, “He comes to consult a doctor.” 49THE character for mouth was originally a pictograph of an open Co mouth: ‘7 broadening Into a smile: (and eventually stiffening: ti and contracting to a square: “C). Cl als mouth; means an opening. Wise old sayings always caution one aboat opening those with a big mouth « ay ku cdi eloquence oie ku ki thirsty mug kéu ot stutter Ag én kiu population oR ki chou bad breath os kiu gi tone ox kéu dai pocket nik ku shi oral examination otf iu fi gourmet's luck ok kéu shui saliva og ku gong testimony CALLE kéu shi xin fei says yes when one oF ki ho slogan Means no ner ki hang lipstick eu Kua kéu boasting of kéu jue quarrel Example: fh 89 C1 A GR a TE te Ki cli hin ho It means, “He is very eloquent.” 50multitude of words,” the Chinese saying goes, “there will certainly ‘evident fromthe character for words Itself: 5 « ‘Apparently, to correct this error, man ith great care, his mouth 2 speaks Its wes Into words: 3. yan cf ‘one’s words yan yi spoken language yan é make peace yan bi yéu zting speak insincerely yon tin speech yén é wixin fail to keep faith yan tan the way one speaks yan gud qi shi exaggerate or the words one yan fing ji cong readily accept says ‘one’s advice yan xing words and deeds yan wai zt yi implications Example: th & 7 EB — Rh. Te yén xing bi yi hi It means, “His words do not correspond with his actions.” stif OT te ate feast tea (ef tee fat fae fr B th fet. Example: xin feng xin feng xin to xin hao xin jian xin jan xin jido xin Bi xin rn envelope believe in be convinced signal letter letter pad believe in a religion trust have confidence in iw eR— Aw. Ging géi wi wr oe xin fg It means, “Please give me an envelope.” 52 xin tido xin te xin tuo xin xiang xin xin xin yang xin yong xi xin creed disciple trust post box confidence; faith belief trustworthiness write letterspletograph of the anclent workman’s square or carpenter's ruler. ‘It means work, labour or skill. An early form: 15 included tines traced’ with the square. Man has always had monn ray + TREN Sy 96 = PROSPERITY 0 I ‘ging chiang factory Tk ‘ging qian service charges TH Gong Dang the Labour Party | TA gong rén worker Tit ging di construction site Tak gong yé industry TR ing fu time; effort lec jong yi technology IA ging ji tools Le ging Zt wages Le ‘ging hui trade union ie ging 200 job Le ging jiang crafisman eit ging chéng sii engineer Te ging nding workers and TEAL AG ging yé hua industralize peasants Lah ging yi gin crafts Example: fh eA DA. TE so gang én It means, “He is a worker.” 53mud Z| see: also’ a Chinese surname ‘The character for lett: £ deplets the hand 7 that holds the carpenters square = — the let. The left hand 7 ts fight hasd raw the line. Stands for Ge direction eat ia ub bian left side Fai wi mién left side Fei 2ui pai leftist FMA wid ging left-leaning AF zi shu left hand ER wi yi left wing Example: WHA PFS, Te ying 25 shiv xi ai It means, “He writes with his left hand.” AR AF EAE FAA 54 zu you left and right zu you shu the right-hand man ub you féng yuén win advantages from both sides wud you wéi nn in a dilemmayou right yeu eat with) — the Tight. 4% stands for the direction right. Aid yu bian right side BF you shiv ATi you min right side BR yau yi Auk you pai rightist aya xiang you Ait you ging right deviation Example: fh Hl Oe Te xidng you chun It means, “He turns right.” right hand right wing turn right’a Be shé jian BK shé tou roy shé yin ik shé zhan Example: tip of the tongue tongue lingual sounds heated discussion RkAP RARER Bién lin hui zhOag, shulng tang. zkén kai shé_ chin It means, “Both sides are having a heated discussion at the debate.” 56a hua talk; speech; language Man gombined words % and tongee & to produce $2, micazing language. To or ‘em ‘Importance of weighing words before delivery and to caation against eal hua bié say goodbye wal hua ti subject of a talk ia ‘hua bing subject for ridicule | i341 twa ti ydu ua —_there’s more to it ialB bua jid talk about old than what is times merely said TSE hua jo stage play Ris xido hua joke Example: th RBA. Ta jidog hud nin ishing It means, “He talks very loudly.” 87man discerned the wisdom of lstening. He proclaimed from ear to ear the proverbial saying: “A good talker Is inferior to 8 good -” The pletograph he created for the ear began with a natural ‘and ended with a stylized form: His talking about the listening car began also with a natural rendition, but It doesn’t seem like ever ending in any [rir |F | | LT] HR & duo ear FR & shi Ft & guang aboxontheear | Hig er yi AR fr hun earrings GAA & bian feng Fil ay earphones. HA—S bmi yan FHL &r King earhole pag, &r ming tinnitus FRB wén midi HA & ni informer HE & sai earplug Example: fh A RR. Ta ei dye ning It means, "He has sharp ears.” 58 earwax whisper turn a deaf ear to pleasant change of atmosphere what one hears and seesqu Set ab cai acquire material i sh make one’s choice (for writing) agi sheng score a success ett ai dai replace gi xiao cancel Hutt i dao by way of via RE ai xiao make fun of ae a dé obtain BRAG #MAL ii chang bi duin learn from other's ai qu di ban; suppress strong points to He qi jué be decided by remedy one’s BS a alto resort to trickery weaknesses Example: fh RW —- AEB. Te gi vido yogi yan ti It means, “He has cancelled a dinner.” 39tele or obtain, Le Aguatvey aking old of, pervn bythe hand X . To select © woman 3 therefore means to marry: 3 ; I never ‘wig o's manta Sled x wit nts way, for a Kand lefinitely means a fist on his ear. H7 [ax BK at din marry (a woman); take a wife Example: HheETRUB AFTRA E Be. TE i le gh yi iv, a? qub ein sing 16 It means, “He leads a happy life after marriage.” 60The concept of “older brother” is suggested by the XIONG ideograph ¥, which combines person A with mouth 0 . Ideally, & represents a person A characterized by a large mouth 1 , ie., one who speaks with authority to exhort elder brother or correct a younger brother. Our picture shows what could happen in reality if hig mouth of “older brother” went into action. | \ was xing di brothers 5L5 ZFS xidng di zh bang fraternal states RK xiong zhing respectful form Kn zhang xiong elder brother of address for an elder brother or a mam friend Example: RAR S DHMH. Wo yiu hin ud xitng di jie mai ‘It means, “I have many brothers and sisters.” 61BA IN| as In the etymological sense, /¥ means to divide or separate. It is made up of two separate strokes, form- ing a symmetrical symbol /\ . Probably he- cause the number 8 can be easily divided and subdi- vided, /\ (to divide) came to stand for 8, the much- ible number. The ori MAUL Ba Xian The Eight Immortals | /\= baz Eight Characters (in four AA ba yud August pairs, indicating the year, month, day and hour of a person's birth, each pair consisting of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch, used in fortune telling). Example: BAARAA, The ge wd sh be yd It means, “This month is August.” 62pul =H exchange; barter The character % originally meant to speak, bless or rejoice. It was derived from older brother’s XU change of words. money talking louder than words in man’s affluent society, there arose the need to exchange the old meaning for a new one. « Today, @, means to exchange money or to barter a KAS dul cash (a cheque, etc) Hm dui han exchange EL ui xian pay cash HAMS ~— dui hudn bio ~—exchange table Example: fhe RT HMRR, Te qi ying hing duv iin ziti It means, “He went to the bank to cash a cheque.” 63Ut (a) SHUO speak; theory; story 25d, is a character that speaks for itself; it, means to speak, i.e., to exchange %, words & . It is an ideograph “of elder brother 3% separating his words /\ , exchang- ing them in speech i. It can also mean theory, opinion or story as, for example: prove to be the root of unproduetive act as (earth) provides the ABE wi ldo be imprisoned AE 208 ud locate; situate A 2a shi sit by and watch AGE zi wei seat ene ui xia sit down ABXEASE wi i bv be fidgety Example: th @ AME. Te ging ke rén mi id It means, “He invited the guest to sit down.” 82 ud jing guan (literally) see the tian sky from the bottom of a well—take a narrow view of ging zub please sit down.[x | ec YG w ts | Originally, 4 represented a stalk (4) thrusting out of its receptacle ( 41) - the ground - and bursting out in full bloom. ‘This verbal character places emphasis on the action “out”. Translating this action visually, our picture shows “out” being expressed, not only in the active voice, but also in the passive voice. L|Ulm Habe chi ban publish Hrd chi mén be away from the ‘ch chan produce . home ed hi hi make a fool of he hid go out oneself iy chi shan family background Hi chi gué go abroad tHe chi xian appear; emerge HSE coh jing leave a country Hy chi hi yi liao = unexpected an chi kv export HAAS ctidrén tu di stand above others Hak td lai ‘come out HE ABE chil shéng ri si go through thick Hse oh mai betray and thin Example: fh th iT - Te hd bin le yh bin sho It means, “He has published a book.” 83SHENG bear; grow The earth (+ ), producing a plant (#), lays the groundwork for growth (2). Hence the modified form: 4 , meaning to produce, bear or grow. Man, & born’ imperfect, grows in different ways and diree- = tions. Pictured here are 2 examples from three & generations. S / |F|F/4/4 ER shng bing fall ill EB sheng std unfamiliar ATE shiéng edn survive iy sheng wii biology ah ‘shing ding vivid HEEL shiéng xiao become effective iG shiéng hud livelihood Ae stigng yi business AEE shiéng Ii physiology AE vying rigid ie shiing ming life At sheng zhing grow up Ee shiéng gi angry ESN sting qi b6 bd full of vigour and 48 stiéng ri birthday vitality Example: WOR & ith Uk A. Ming ign shi de shang i It means, “Tomorrow is her birthday.” 84- ‘The character #4 , comprising 4 (woman) and 4 (born), xin literally means: “born of woman”. It suggests that in some remote, forgotten era man, born of woman, got his name from the mother. Hence #4: “surname”. We introduce here Mama surname Li's (4) family from the remote past, but we’ve forgotten Papa’s insignificant surname. (Ty eB HE xing ming surname and name | Hitt bai xing common people eit xing pit genealogical record; | St HE gui xing what is your family register surname? eK xing shi surname Example: if fl & Me tr Ae Ang win nin xing shén me? It means, “What is your surname, please?” 85ne): ~ oA / valuables This character is a the precious cowrie shel early feudal ti as money, it came to mean also “valuables”. The regular form (A) shows a live shell with feelers; but today, e the money it once represent- d, the shell reveals its hollowness in the simplified form ( { ). 3 Se shell carving WF bai zi cowries—used as Nas shell currency in Ws shellfish ancient times ves valuables; gems aM bio bai precious; darling Example: KM FE RR. The bei Ke hin i It means, “This shell is very beautiful.” 86JIAN cheap; mean; worthless Two spears: 3 shattering and destroying the value of shells: 51, once used as money, ‘conveys the idea of cheap, worthiess, mean or humble. Man applied this word to anything of little value, uttering the proverbial saying: “Cheap things are of little value; valuable things are not cheap”. In mock hu- mility, he applied it also to himself. Dh Rett jidn jia cheap; low-priced | 40 pin jin poor and humble WE jian mai cheap-sale Wee jidn gi tou miserable (or con- Wey (GE) jin wi (hud) © cheap and common temptible) wretch things; inferior quality goods Example: mH AK Ta oh sheng pi jidn It means, “She comes from a poor and humble family.” 87ee |/ cp a = os dear; honourable A basket or container: 2 (or R) filled h precious cowric A (once used as money) means dear or expensive. By extension, it also means high-class or honow able. In this connection, humble self (W&) thanks honou able readers ( #) for their a iation and interest in the Bilingual Page. # |e HE gui bin guest of honour HA gui rén distinguished ora gui to noblewoman Person hE gui gud your nation (a Ht gui xing your name, please polite expression) | #f ui zhong valuable; precious id gui jian the eminent and | Hi ui 26 aristocrat; noble the humble at bad gui precious Example: REA S HRAR, Yq Gus yiv xi cud gui ah td id It means, “There are many aristocratic families in England.” 883 st | / ea \ Mar R(S) buy This ideograph is made up of a net: © (modified from © ) and sheJls: & (money- cowrie). @ means to buy, i.e, net of (a7) goods, paying. the price in cowries (6). This is often done with bargain offers. The simplified form: 3 offer- ed in ss of the regular form: % may not seem quite a bargain, but we'll buy it. mi fang buyer mai tong bribe; buy over mai ho try to win some- mai zhi buyer body's favour mi King mai speculate (in mai id buying price King stocks, etc.) mai mai buying and selling Example: fh bk He EH KE. TE shi 2h iy xm ce dedi It means, “He is the buyer of this new car.” 899 is derived by loading ® (the business of netting ‘owries) with + (out, a contraction of # ). Hence means to sell, i.e., to put out or push (+ or # ) goods and netting in (2 or ©) cowrie-money (El ). Our picture exposes the fishy business of pushing and netting. mai chang sing for a living RE mai yi make a living as a ‘mai fang seller performer mai gué betray one’s mai yin Prostitution country mai gué 26 traitor ety mai jia selling price AG mai rén ging grant a favour RN mai i spare no effort KAR mai shen gi indenture by which Ker mai ming sweat one’s guts out a sells oneself ¥: mai ndng show off e or family aa th ete He hd mal betray SESE Hm fai mai pin not for sale TA pai mai sale by auction Example: hae Ta oo ee. ‘Ts chi mai le zi ji de ge ge It means, “He has betrayed his own brother.” 90Water (7X), a natural source of power, is represented by a pictograph of surging waters with a central mainstream and four whirls: \X . A variant form, using only three drops (+ ), operates as radical to induce a flood of “watery” characters. To this day, the proverbial saying is afloat: “ Water can support a ship, and water can upset it.” water colour pond; pool TY shut gou drain; ditch KE shui guin water pipe TR shut gui fruit TE shut Ki reservoir; dam AYE shut nf cement AF shut shibu sailor; seaman SE shui ti water tower Example: ek RM H tk OW HE. CHT shut gud dui shen ef you yi It means, “Eating fruits is good for our health.” ca TRAE ARMAS 7K. Shui Xing shui yin shui zai shui ling téu shut stn hud ré shut ztiéng qi shui xi8 bd tong bie shui Mercury mercury flood tap; faucet (figuratively) an abyss of suffering steam (figuratively) very crowd drink water7K One generation comes and another goes, but water flows on incessantly in a continuous eycle. From this unceasing flow of water came the ideo graph for “everlasting”: Ac - a. variation of water (2), with foams and ripples added: 4g. a will long be remem. bered as the “everlasting” character that embodies the eight fundamental strokes used in calligraphy. ila AE yng sting eternal life All AG yng yuiin forever; everlasting | 7S JARS HS ying bi fén li inseparable atl AKIEARHY ying chii bi xii eternal glory Ate kA Example: fh 1H 2 Rk HY, TE men de ai ging sti yng hing de It means, “Their love is everlasting.” 92 vying bié vying bi vying gi yong héng ying jit part forever never Permanently fixed eternal; everlasting Permanent): The character for ice was originally: < , representing cracks or crystals on the sur- face of ice. The radical 7 depicts water dripping and freezing into an icicle. ¥ was added to 4x (water ) to freeze and erystallize it into “trozen water” or lee: AC. Our illustration applies 7c figuratively, contrasting icy coldness, with fiery passion. | L| s dy is y [la KE ‘ing bdo hailstones RU ‘bing tian iceberg URI ‘Ging chuan glacier bing shut ice-water KS Bing dio Iceland bing xiang refrigerator TKI ‘bing dong freeze bing gi tin ice-cream EE ting kuai ice-cube bing shang yin ice-sports tie bing lng ice-cold ong Thi bing liéng ice-cold bing tian xu8 dia world of ice and snow Example: ah OK Me ok OR. Te xt hun cht bmg lin Tt means, “She likes ice-cream.” 93Quin fountain The early forms: and (f) show water gr ing out from a mountain spring. The modern form: £ distilled from @ (pure) and 7K (water), symbolizes the fountain or spring - source of pure, wholesome drinking water and the inspired expression: “When you drink water, think of the mountain spring (or source).” Tele] 9 ele] BK quan shui spring water sa quan yuén source of spring; : source Pa pen quén fountain Example: KAM MRK, The gé pan quén hén di It means, “This is a very beautiful fountain.” 94,, the character for rain, is a picture of rain- drops (==) falling verti- cally down (|) from a cloud (J) in the heavens 34;Ff (—). Not all welcome the 3! ‘as showers of bless- At from heaven for, as / ing goes, “The: the farmer hopes for rain, the 3) traveller for fine weather”~~ Am Alen yi dian raindrop yiji rainy season vii liang rainfall yi sin umbrella yi shui rain water yu tian rainy day yi yi raincoat Example: POR 7. te ME OR ME, XR ye, tua jin tat It means, “It’s raining, come in quickly!” 95 the sun shines again after the rain (spring up like) bamboo shoots after a spring rain rainingThe original character places rain cf under f F (abbreviation of Fa house , enforcing the idea of “leak” - rain seeping through the roof into the house. The modern form reinforces the concept by adding more water in the form of the radical: (watery:5ff)- i a aH, lu didn leakage of electri- | dha Bt lu shui evade taxation city tai lou yi rain leaking ar lou dong flaw; loophole through ihe (ou dou funnel for liquids | ie lou feng stieng leak out a secret te lou feng air leak iRiil GHA bu ding bai ctv full of loopholes Wet lau guang light leak Rik sft du lose track of Example: hi 7 -RARMBAM. TE tu te yi tife ahing yin xh wen It means, “He missed an important piece of news.” 96When the humid and warm vapours (% or 2) rise (E or =) and reach the colder regions, they condense and form clouds: x. Leading the clouds (&) with rain ty produces the regular form: %. The simplified version_relieves the clouds () of their load, reverting the character to its original form: & . yon ci cloud BMW BK yon céng layers of cloud yin ji gather together in crowds yon wai beyond the clouds yin wo mist; fog ae yin xia rosy clouds BE yin xiao the skies erg yon yan cloud and mist Example: RELARRAB. Tian shng yo aud dob 8h yin It means, “Billows of white clouds float in the sky.” 97 yon xigo wi sin the clouds have cleared and the mist dispersed — (figuratively) troubles have been cleared up bai yn white clouds 6 yin passing cloud wi yin man bi black clouds gather in the skyThe seal character th broom 4 . The modern| character GW relates rain 7 to hand 2. (a contraction of $f , broom). Both versions fittingly symbolize snow, i.e, rain ¥) which can be taken up in the hand (2) or swept away by a broom (4 ). 18 bai snow-white = wd gi snowball ub bing snowslide = xvi rén snowman xu hen avenge = xu shan snow-covered xu hua snowflake mountain xu ji8 cigar ate : vanishing cream xu8 jing snow scenery EER ai 20g sing (figuratively) timely xu lidng bright as snow a nee : hl to snow Example: AR, DRFEKEEA, ong ign, ido hii nit tun ndo wd re It means, “In winter, children like to make snowmen.” 98ea |B DIAN lightning; electricity A streak of lightning (@) amidst the falling rain (#4) forged,the character for light- i . Lightning being a le discharge of electricity came to mean also electricity. &@ takes the path of least resistance, discharg- ing eight of its thirteen strokes to transform itself into the simplified form: suoeEaDIO \ |oeale |e "eth dian bio telegram; cable ith dian chi battery aL dian ging electrician is dian hua telephone He dian tid electric current raha ian ngo computer eH dian shi television Hab dian elevator Bek dian xian wire; cable Example: hek eee e, Te xt hwan gf ign dan che It means, “He likes riding motorcycle.” 99 Hain Be Hane Heide erie Fs pet dian xin din ying dian chang ji dian dan che dian ai ji suan jt shou dian ting wo xién dién telegraphic message movie-show; film record player motorcycle electronic calculator torch wirelessFA J ttunder From experience, man s that rain clouds (()) over his fields (@) means thunder: , the voice of lightning. The original version of has three or four fields (5%) incorporated in a graphic pattern to express the reverberation of thun. der. To man, thunder is im- pressive, but it is lightning The 4 a thunder roars loudly, ee eee Y but little rain falls.” [— [CR eer ren HA \éi d6 radar ‘EMA A tél ting gién rén mere follower Si (ijt be struck by of predecessors lightning He é to thunder as @i ming thunderous He land-mine an {i sheng thunderclap KE sea-mine Bi ei ys thunderstorm ae torpedo BA ai 3 wing radar service RE yi i ting torpedo boat network KREG fa léi ting fly into a rage Example: SLY LAKKEE. Guin gong cul gong rin dite Maiti It means, “The supervisor flies into a rage at the workers.” 100# is a pietogr: brella. Its radical: A (man) has nothing to do with the original character: & . Nevertheless, the regular form: seems to be harbouring fouf persons (44) not included in the simplified ver: . Under cover of the umbrella, man counsels for the rainy day: “When the sky is clear, carry an umbrella; though your stomach is full, carry provisions.” 7 INAS SS| ee sin bing paratroop; parachuter ae yi sin umbrella WEY jing Wud sin parachute Example: RRM T, CAH- RAS. Kodi yo x8 ys Pode Gi yh ye sin It means, “It’s going to rain. Don't forget to bring an umbrella.” 101CHUAN ie stream “The great river does not reject little “stream.” As the river meanders through arid land, infusing life into the fields, it is continually fed by little streams. Fittingly, the river is portrayed as flowing water formed by the union of little streams, upon which it vitally depen The modern independent form: MIL uses a variant: & to serve as source for other related characters. ) Di pu | IN BE chun zt travelling expenses JNGEASS, chun lid be uninterrupted flow; continuous flow Sichuan, China byt Example: % bE RR Li shan ch tidng chun lig bX Tt means, “There is a continuous flow of traffic on the road.” 102‘A mountain range, with three towering peaks, provides the structure for this pictograph of mountain or hill: uy. From a high vantage point, man is able to oversee what is easily overlooked on a lower plane. Hence the proverb: “If you don’t climb the high mountain, you ean’t view the plain.” mountain; I Ja | | wt stian chun mountains and wei Shian XT Shanxi, China rivers OE shian ya cliff Lie shan téng summit of a LURE HEF — shan méng tdi solemn oath mountain shi WAR Shan Ding Shandong, China | LlJ#H7K7§ shin ming shui beautiful scenery va stan ding mountain top xid wn stan g& folk song WF AKIR sign gidng shui circumstances of we stan gi valley iin extreme need Lhe acai mountain range WEAR —stin shen tsi delicacies Hse stian pi hill slope bal WW shan tou hilltop Example: fh RU WK GH GR ET. Ta bei shining shit nid) de XT HG oman It means, "He was enchanted by the beautiful scenery of the West Lake.” 1031K a a = The regular form: representation of a long-tailed bird, flaunting its beauty and revelling in its freedom. Unfortunately, beauty has not Iways been an asset to the bird for, as the saying goes, “It’s the beautiful bird that we put in the cage.” Tragically, the simplified form sees the stripped of its plum. 4) EIB BR nign chéo bird’s nest SSIBIER ko yi nua Sai nido kan bird's eye view xiang a nido lei birds SE ‘ido ling bird cage oe nig shiv birds and animals | ,), 1%, ibe nifo Sm niga zhao bird’s claws Example: wKRR ARS WD? NU jig yu ying ito ma? It means, “Do you rear birds at home?” 104 birds sing and flowers give forth their fragrance— characterizing a fine spring day small birdSea-birds often nest on mountainous rocks that emerge from the sea. Hence a bird (2 ) over a mountain (4: ) gave the concept for island: The ancient form shows a bird hovering over a mountain, with feet visible: & . The modern version has the bird setiling on it, with feet hidden: & , probably hatching the simplified character: § . Piselels! [TT TTT IT) Ei] dio gus island state tt io yi islands of ban dao peninsula Sai qin dio archipelago Example: wm eh Xin Jia Po shi yi go din qué It means, “Singapore is an island state.” losThe saying: “The crow does not roost with the phoenix” sums up man’s attitude towards the lowly carrion crow, regarded as a bird of ill omen. The character for crow: is similar to that for bird: 2 , with the stroke for the eyes omitted, probably because black eyes are not readily visible against black feathers. Even the unflattering simplified version: $ cannot blacken the image of this miserable bird, for crows are already black all over the world. 5% wi gut tortoise SFA Waban 08 Uganda (Africa) oF wi hii jet black Stk Wo La Gur Uruguay (Latin Si Wi ya crow America) oe wi you naught StH Wa Tuo Bang Utopia ax wi yin dark clouds SB ZIK wohé ahr zhing disorderly band SK wi 26i cuttlefish SHOES, wi yan zhan gi foul atmosphere Example: 3 6 i hh, WO gut shi nq gr ding wi It means, “The tortoise is an amphibian.” 106This character draws its inspiration from the migratory = flight of the crane - with the long neck of the bird folded on itself: . The flight is speeded up by Simplifying the regular form: F€ , lightening its load of strokes from nine te three: ~& - AKIK | AL fai jt sh pilot “KAS HE HS fai gin ziv shou birds and beasts Example: fh BH fk eA Mi Te yio mi 8 ti ith It means, “He wants to be a pilot.” 107yt sis feathers; wings Feathers - the showy plumage of birds - are represented by a pair of wings. Like human nature, feathers have changed little in character through the ages. From the original 24 to SA and finally 44 , all look alike at a glance. To confirm this, our illustration takes a closer look at some birds of a feather. [3 B [sy /A9| yi méo feather yi mdo gid badminton yi méo gid pa) = badminton racket "i méo wei féng still young and immature Example: RAK ER. WS oxi tan ds yi mde gid It means, “I like to play badminton.” 108~ 4 ‘ practise This ideograph combines wings (4A) with self (4 , contraction of ), suggesting a young bird learn- ing to fly, practise: 4 y itself; by extension, to . Copying the bird, man also tries to fly by speeding up the simplification of the original intri- eate character: 8% , using only one wing for “practice”: 3] . Woe betide the bird that copies mant [39 Att clad ate Ag Ate AA Fie Example: habit bad habit custom; tradition exercise (of school work) habits and characteristics use habitually idiom KROMKA HAA, WS men yng. gi xiang whi rd ws xf It means, “We should learn from great men.” ate AWA Fie mR 109 xi 20 xi yi wéi chang xi guan chéng zi ran lian xi vue xi exercises in composition, drawing, ete. be used (or accustomed) to habit becomes second nature practise; exercise learningSHAN fan a Og In this ideograph, a wing (4A) is likened to the leaf of a door (7? ) in that its attachment is at the end, and both two related components enforces, the idea of “fan” (494), a useful and decorative device often made of feathers (44). Fin la lala shin ding fan; flap shan hud incite; agitate shan xing fan-shaped shan zi fan yi shan mén a door Example: kA RK. Die shin zi thang mi It means, “This is a beautiful fan.” 110is a pictograph of the fish, hose predatory habits prompt man fo snap at his own fishy way of life: “Big fish eat small fish; small fish eat water Insects; water insects, eat weeds and mad” f the proves to ‘be ils tery ena, b iorm of fire (X), presumably kindled as man prepares to eat 5 __ big fish. a 71 [fa |e |S [LL] a yi chi shark's fin (a fait yi ain shoal of fish . delicacy) fa yi wang fishing net fa wir fish-bait SSBF ih yi gin you cod-liver oil fat yi gov fish-hook HAZY yi mi aii viong district where fish ae yO lai torpedo and rice are fa yo tin fish-scales abundant Example: &HeY Hw Bi, Yé chi shi zhén gui de shi pin It means, “Shark’s fin is an expensive delicacy.” 1yU fishing Fish (@) and water requisites for fishin ancient form for fi ais water feeming with fis =e | q The modified form sees the Aufa- ber reduced to one, probably due to success in fishing: @ . Dis- closed here is yet another form of fishing - without fish or water - but it doesn’t look too successful. yi con fishing-village Fil yili yo fisherman MOR yd min yo ging fishing port yi ye we fisherman's song yf zhu Example: the —-A?H HW MR, Te shi yf ge gin Ido de yo It means, “He is a hardworking fisherman.” 112 reap unfair gains fisherman fishery fishing boatstupid; simple i) a In his eagerness to acquire an ideograph, for, simple or stupid, man literally acted the part. He append- ed to fish (@) a representation of a nose (4) which was later corrupted to © (speak). The tragic result: a “dumb” fish unable to speak and a “gosey” one, without Seont or sense: , Simple man, like stupid fish, sees the bait, nof the hook. a 7 {717 Zia Cr" 818 1a1 81 [I Be 1 din stupid ae 16 ming reckless; careless Example: th ik FR FH. Te mb shi Nn Wang It means, “He does his work carelessly.” 113YANG = sheep; goat Because of its mild and gentle nature, the sheep (¥ ) is a fitting symbol for meekness. Its picto- graphic representations take on well-balanced forms. Early versions show frontal views of the head; later modifications fill in the horns, ears, legs and tail. When combined with other components, the tail is often left out: ¥. TTY | ZIZIZTY fs ng ido ram's horn FEW }SE ying ching xido winding path Ee yang méo sheep's wool a0 Hr yang pai mutton chop Lec el =U the long run, eR yang sheep skin ai yang sting you pay for ER yang qin flock of sheep shang pig you *A yang rou mutton xe a ylag lamb: kid BE yang méo shan =—--nitted sweater Example: fh Be eA. Te bi cht yéng rau It means, “He does not eat mutton.” 114This character combines two types of flesh: fish ( @.) and sheep (C). Although meat was usually preserved by salting, drying or smoking, ancient man preferred to eat the flesh of fish and sheep fresh. Hence, fish (&) and sheep () put together means “fresh”: BF In other words, “flesh” becomes fresh”. HR xian gud fresh fruit Hi xian xu blood seer xian hing bright red ae xin yan colourful; ETE. xian hus fresh flower bright-coloured Ee xin mei delicious; tasty SE#625 A xian yan dud mi attractive to EB xian ming vividness — the eyes Sey xian nai fresh milk aie xin xtan fresh Example: hip 2, CL RSA. Thi wi yudn I, arith yin uw It means, “The flowers in the Botanic Gardens are very attractive.” 1sA lamb (#) is represented “by sheep (:) ready to stand on its feet Gs). As the four strokes (s) stand for fire, the Iamb is also’ sheep ( ready for roasting on the fire (45%), a rand z [PEE LT] eR 0 pi lamb skin me 0 yang kid; lamb RF go zi lamb; fawn Example: RERRTR¥. Mi ying bi jd tego ying It means, “The ewe has lost her lamb.” 116== beautiful; admirable This beautifully proportion, character is, shaped. from (sheep) and (big). * originally represented a person grown big; 2 is an animal admired for its loving virtue. Ideographically, a mature person (%.) who has the mild and gentle disposition of a sheep (# ) is regarded as beautiful, admirable: £ . = 2 Fz Ra mi guan nice looking Fei méi man x Mai Gud America RA mméi shi Fa mdi ho fine; glorious HR mdi wei et bi hua beautify RIE mi yon Se méi jing beautiful scenery SRL Mai Lian Shé ei mai ii beautiful SABE Bi ring yuan ee mei meng fond dream ERE mdi shi ji@ Shy méi mid splendid Example: mH i eR. Ta de lida xing hin mdi It means, “She has a pretty face.” 117 happy fine arts delicious US. dollar Associated Press beauty-parlour artistx Yi justice; righteousness When justice ( i ) prevails, the aggressive “I”: 4%, (with spear % in hand $ ) becomes subdued like a docile and gentle sheep ( # ). Hence A justifies itself as a symbol for right conduct. For the sake of righteousness the regular form is now slashed to three strokes, transforming it into a simplified and perfectly balanced justi Ut yi fn indignation yi yan benefit performance RA yigh code of yi bd réng cf be duty-bound - brotherhood yi wi io ding voluntary labour XE yi shi high-minded or BM yiyl meaning . chivalrous person | ory zhén yi justice XA yin obligation; duty Example: REAREARH XS, Bio wii gud jit shi én de hw It means, “It is the duty of the people to defend their own country.” 118< Although ¥ is a phonetic, it also serves to emphasize YANG the meaning of this character for ocea hep, being inland animals, graze on land away, trom the ocean; so water (5 ) faraway from the sheep (¥) ocean; came to mean ocean: }F. By extension, {2 also foreign means “foreign”, Le., far away beyond the ocean. RR yang cong onion yang rén foreigner PEAR yang £6 Western-style vyang yi fill with clothes yéng yéng dé yi be very pleased eT yng hang foreign firm with oneself Heb vyang hua westernized ‘ai yang ocean HEIR vyéng hu cement 3 |Xi Yang Atlantic Ocean eR ‘yang hud imported goods; RR Tai Ping Yang Pacific Ocean foreign goods Example: hm eM KR HK. Te ded péng yu. hin yng. hd It means, “His girlfriend is very westernized.” 119‘This ideograph: X , expressive of intense desire, combings $ (sheep) with 5X (an old form of :&, meaning saliva). *&, therefore, signifies the mouth watering (5) at the sight or smell of ution, the flesh of sheep (¥ ). Hence, the extended meaning: to covet or desire. = x PEP z PF IR pod xién mi admire; envy Example: hh RRERARA-—+ HK Ih. TE hin alin mi ws yd ahd me yi geo jido sh It means, “He envied me for having such a good teacher.” 120’X is a pictograph of fire, produced by rubbing stones together. A ferrifying force of nature, it brings both calamity and comfort to man. Like burning issues that often flare up in life, fire is easy to kindle, but difficult to handle, as the proverb warns: “You can’t use Paper to wrap up fire.” KR hud chai match AW hub ti fire-power AR thud che train A hud furnace KH hud guang flame; blaze KR hud gi temper ie bub hai sea of fire AW hub shin volcano AE hud hua sparks KE Hud Xing Mars. AG bud hws cremate KA hud yao gun-powder it hud jian rocket KR hud 21 fire (as a calamity) AS hud jing fire alarm Example: AREA WA i. Hub ch shing én shan rén hii It means, “The train is crowded with people.” 121rmed from two fires itop the other. Because of its inflammatory nature, it may well spread like wildfire and the people around it would suffer from the burning heat. yan liéng cold-shoulder yén 8 burning (or scorching) hot yan xia hot summer yin yén sweltering ryan zhéng inflammation Example: SRA A RB. sm tidn tin ai hin yin 8 It means, “The weather is scorching hot today.” 122BE, or words (J ) beside flame (3), aptly signifies an informal chat by the fire’— idle talk in which much is spoken but little is said. Mischief arising from aimless opening of the mouth and thoughtless wagging of the tongue sparks the old saying: “Much talk brings on trouble; much food brings on indigestion.” ath f gig ose Ye Tp % “VP WE x | v Kw tén dao speak of tin xin heart-to-heart talk ‘tan hua talk; converse ‘tan hé rong yi easier said than tén tin discuss done; by no ro means easy tén pin negotiate Ona ‘én tian eee TRAP tén xido feng light-hearted and interesting talk Example: Ro te BP RK Women dish yin aid tin tan It means, “We chit-chat under the shady tre 123ashes; dust; lime Fire (K) in hand (4+) stands for) ashes or dust: 4% — the product of fire (XX) that°can be handled or taken in the hand (+). Ac also includes lime (obtained by burning limestone) which, though easily handled (7+), apparently contains fire (CX), generating heat when mixed Grin adion PIB FRG hui dn dim; obscure RE hut chén dust Re grey Ra» bul xia disheartened IRAE hud xin sing gi downhearted Example: BkLA-BRE. Chi. shing yl yi cing tu chén It means, “There is a layer of dust on top of the cupboard.” 124Man, plagued by floods ({X., stream) and fire (X ), oneg regard: eo 5 e ed these unforeseen calamities as divine judgement: 5 . a7 modern simplified character for calamity: § , however, sets matters straight by locating fire (X) under roof (+7) — pinning the responsibility onto man himself. ZAI calamity i hai calamity; disaster | EC Bi min victims of natural ‘ai hudn calamity calamity al huang famine RHE misfortune ai hud disaster RR i yang catastrophe wai ging condition of a RR tian i disaster AR shui Zi flood ai qi disaster area Example: RMR RD RE KR. Yih Jig PO hn shdo f& shBng shui 72 It means, “Floods seldom occur in Singapore.” 1254 SHAN incite; instigate; stir up This ideoggaph literally implies fanning (93) a fire (XK). Figu- ratively, it means to excite 0 ingite, to instigate or stir up: ‘#4. Our picture shows a fire- SEI brand demonstrating her own interpretation of the proverb: Fuel alone will not ignite a fire.” [EB Pe es zh stian dong instigate; incite SL stian Ivan stir up revolt Hache ——stiin ding zh agitator tisk stién féng didn create trouble bud Example: th Sab eK ew. TE sith dng jd ting wwe gr wi xh ting It means, “He instigated his classmates to bully the new student.” 126Ik SHAO burn; bake; roast *e probaly originated from tng firing (2X) of earthenware (Ht) stacked upon a support (Je) ina kiln. The phonetic: ‘4, showing earth (24) piled Up high on a pedestal (7~) denotes high or great. Combi- nation with the radical: (ire) generates. the character: which stands for the great heat required in-baking, roasting or burning: 2%. re RE ‘sho hut destroy by fire KEE stiao si be burnt to death KER stigo hud make a fire BE sho xiang incense-offering BERR sho jia0 scorch BEE shiao yao kiln KA sho rou roast meat Bw ‘a shiao fever Ke sho shang injury from burns Example: ih i a ee. TE ching qi si i stao xing It means, “She often goes to the temple to offer incense.” 127flame (X ) under » smoke vent or window (@), blackening it (B ) with soot, Squaring the window: and modifying the flame: 4 , produced the modern character: , meaning black. ‘The original seal form depicted a [i 7112 1% 22/2 a het” an dark black-hearted; evil- Ra het bai black and white minded Bi het ban blackboard e dark night BA het rén Black people heT ming dn blacklist 8, het sé black het i ji stout i het shiv black market wi her jet black Example: ah th Oe. TS pa he an It means, “She is afraid of the dark.” 128Mo ml Chinese ink Chinese ink: was first made by mixing smoke-soot (% ) with gum to produce an earthy (+) Substance. The mixture was then moulded and hardened into a solid stick, ready to be ground with water to form live ink. Even though a little ink is better than a good memory, man apparently prefers to heed the proverb: “ He who is near ink gets black,” com- mitting it to memery. 7 | wW SB nd jt ink mark ait smd zhi HK md shui ink oye Be md yan inkstone BAKE oad si bi Bi ma yo inkfish; cuttlefish Example: REKABRKES FT. Wi xt tun yong mi shot bY xb ad It means, “I like to write with a fountain pen.” 129 prepared Chinese ink fountain penfa | (BA DIAN point; spot; dot phonetic component: ¢ means to divine, to ask about or interpret orally (a) ‘the cracks ( eomes even more to the point: Setling divination (ai) on fire (000). RE didn cai choose dishes from | 5% ign rin a menu dién tou din droplet iin xin iin hb light a fire ifn zhui din ming call the roll Example: fh 10 88 th OM OT Ts bi ld ahd didn én le It means, "He lighted the candle.” 130 kindle nod one’s head light refreshments decoratecho. + ; grass; weeds PY is a pictograph of grass, com- monly written: & . The contracted form is +7. Despised as weed that sways with the wind, the lowly grass (+) nevertheless provides the root for a host of “plant” characters. And, unlike the grassroots of human society, it can draw comfort from the proverb: “Every blade of grass has its own share of dew.” a aa co bao block-head; good- co méi strawberry _ for-nothing oo turf sod SR co cho done rashly ko shui careless Re co géo manuscript; draft oho xt straw mat Sta cao gi straw mushroom cao yao medicinal herb He cao Wd grass green cio yuan grasslands | cio mao straw hat Example: BIL em He, Mic ai ht cio It means, "Horses like to eat grass.” 131THE concept of “sprout” (3) germinates trom rain stalks (-7") sprouting in a cultivated field +e (Go). By extension, a includes man's offspring, his progeny. As illustration, we picture here a : productive farmer with his “sprouts”- the fruit of OAD met labour of love and toil a Mido sprouts; = [or [ar aE CEPT Teeeatey TT TT] HA mniéo tiéo slender and slim WIR igo 26 the Miao tribe ae shi mido sapling oti you mido seedling Example: as fe vy tH i & RW OR Na wii xido jit de sheng. cdi én ido tido It means, “That lady has a slender and slim figure.” 132nt |(2) WV Wy, THE seal form: graphically portrays the loxariant follage of & ire. The regular form: € , signifying the generations (i) of a treelike (4X) plant (+r), sug. ests the seasonal sprouting of jeaves. The simplified form, however, simply borrows the character: ct (originally “har- mony”) and leaves the harmonizing to the Imagination. ma TLL L | A yp bing leafstalk Fe ya leaf PHIRI yé lub gui gen falling leaves settle on their roots—a person residing elsewhere finally returns to his ancestral home 1 ia or feng yé maple leaf Example: kA FS RA Thi pin yo ot to Gal a It means, “What a big leaf!” 133ORIGINALLY, 4& pictured a man tumbling heels over head, indicating a complete change —a metamorphosis. With the radical (++) grafted on, 4& assumed a different character blossomed into a flower: 4Z, —that part of @ plant (*F) whi strikingly transformed ({¢:) or changed from the other parts. CPP re | | tem hud ban petal YEHEA nd stisng mi shelled peanut qi hua dian lace FEAESF ua bua ging zi dandy; coxcomb; tee hua cdo flowers and plants a fop EX ua du flower TETERER wa wali i colourful ee ‘hua Han flower basket FEAETE FR hua hua shi jis the dazzling Teh ‘ua ping vase human world test wa sheng ceed mortal world tt ua yun garden Example: REIL RRB. oS tut edn It means, “This flower is very beautiful.” 134THE tea herb, picked from a treelike (A ) plant (+7), is ferment. ed and dried under cover (A) before being brewed as tea: &. A > beverage originally used as medi % cine, 7 refreshes and soothes. J, Even when trouble brews, an amicable settlement can be ef- fected over a cup of tea, as the “TP es ee | FR cha bai teacup RR cha qian tip Wea ché chi teaspoon 3K tea or boiled water cian cha didn refreshments Feat tea-leaves Fe hd ji tea cloth FE tea-house RH cha i tea-set ea tea plantation ae cha hi teapot OB drink tea Re hd hui tea-party Example: KEK RK Woot wan he Tt means, “I like to drink tea.” 135YING brave; heroic A mature man (X) in the midst of a large space (r7), thick with vegetation (++), suggests a brave man in a jungle. Henct meaning brave or heroic. Although there will always be a ave man to respond to # high reward, the ancient saying reveals the true source of courage: “Men of principle have courage.” RG ying bang RA ving ci El Ying Gu RE ying héo RR ying jin SAA ying ming RA ing ming HK ying wén Example: pound sterling HE ying xiéng person of out- RB vying ying standing ability | 3&j% ying yi England RE ying at hero handsome SEELA ying gué rén brilliant SRS ‘fing Ning bang illustrious name English (language) & CRRA MW - RMA HD, Yod Fal shi Sing chia de yi wei ying xidng rén wi It means, “Yue Fei was a heroic figure of the Song dynasty.” 136 hero courageous English (language) valiant and fine- looking Englishman British Commonwealth (of Nations)ORIGINALLY written: MM, the character for bamboo Is a pictograph of two whorls of bamboo Teaves. Unlike a wayward man, the bamboo grows straight and upright into a useful and decorative plant. “The bamboo stick makes a ood child,” so says the proverb. r picture demonstrates how — starting right from the bottom. we ‘hi gain bamboo pole Aree AR ahd yb ging bamboo-leaf-green tk ah tin bamboo grove liqueur WR zhi sin bamboo shoot wir ‘shan zhi mangosteen WF ahd zi bamboo Example: RHF A or hk De foi shh hae : It means, “This chair is made of bamboo.” 137A hand (>) holding words at the same time! uy jus ( | ),,Scratehing lines (~ ) on a tablet ae ) symbolizes a wrj stylus: - Bamboo () grasping a piece of meat (9), signifying to possess or {o have: gh . Be- cause of the resemblance between meat (3) and moon ('9), man soon lost sight of ‘meat and reached for the moon, promising it to anyone he ‘wishes to pps. sess. Today, with hand (7 ) on moon (1), he classified under “moon”. | a A A yu ging have rendered Bn you ii strong; powerful great service ARR you xiao efficacious; valid HR you gun related to; have | 4PHURJSE _ybu TRE chéng there's an opport- something to do unity to take with’ advantage of AE you hai harmful; AAA you line td stand to gain — detrimental Al ELSE ybu mi ging di be there for all to BE you it reasonable see fall you i advantageous; AT FAGIN ybu gid bi ying respond to every favourable plea Example: RRAAE. WS méi you gh che It means, “I don’t have a car.” 160x “HE who sows his grain in the field puts his trust in heaven,” so observed the proverb. A bountiful yield of rain was therelore grateful ly acknowl ny dged as ik me” from above. Thus lly a pictograph ing wheat or barley, came to stand for “come”. The simplified form rice (3 ) on to tree (4) to juce — a character no jess welcome. RE tai tin guest RE next year HEY a arrive; come TRE next life ee i incoming telegram | KE come and go RA {ai fang come to visit a incoming letters Kel tai hut make around trip | RH source; origin TRE \ai jin communication or | KE come from parcel received SAA lini fang chang there is ample RE (aie guest time ahead Flies {ai tin approach; come Hoe chi Idi come out Example: Re KREKA RAH, Tre xt shut qu sti i ci ho haw de It means, “These fruits are from Australia.” 161A, B pletograph of CA Si ntth the root tnd ey apa ind cating ‘the, level of ‘the earth ( _ ). Although the [tt ae ARS bin di this locality AK bin rén 1 (me; myself) Aor bén tin ‘one’s duty S. bin shen itself; in itself AR bén qué ‘one’s own country bén wén this text AAT bin héng one’s own, bén xing natural instincts profession én yi original intention ai; originally bin yi original meaning AT bin ting skill; ability tin zh innate character RHE bin néng instinct tin 2} book; notebook Example: Kt PRAM RK, Ihe jidn shi It means, ing gin bin hé wS wi quan is matter has nothing to do with me at all.” 162#* Fe vs is made up of skeleton ( (A). The other is a precious zing lent: meaning “body” celeton, flesh and olen {The simplified form gets to & . root ( ) of man ( 4 " reducing him to a skeleton character: 7 AW EE 4 KT Hat KR ti cdi types or forms of | #KSMK ti tie show considera- Titerature tion for teiR ti cao gymnastics th. ti ting propriety; decency TI tte physical punish- thi ti wen body temperature v. aa KR tix system; set-up. tS ve physique; body RIG ti xing bodily form; build KE ti realise tk ti yan learn through tn tai physical (bodily) practice aoe strength RE tiyi physical training AD ti mian dignity; face KE ‘tT zhong body weight Example: th RHA +A. Ta th ching lid shi ging jim It means, “He weighs sixty kilograms.” 163a THE earliest form was a stylised tree sporting a showy dis- play of fruit: 02". As it grew mighty, it boasted of more fruit: @ but these are not easily discernible in the modern form: & . The proverb provides a clue to the missing fruit: “Though a tree grows to a thou- id feet, its fruits will fall to jh again.” x ¥ g W ala B 2 |¢ Rw gud duan resolute; decisive | A gui rév Rae ud gén resolute and RE ud shi daring Ret ub shi FRAG ub ing jam SR] ub yuén FBR ud pi skin of fruit Rit qd ait Re gud pin fruit RE gba FR ub én as expected; sure enough Example: RY OK aT The gus att tai tién te! It means, “This fruit juice is too sweet!” 164 flesh of fruit fruit; gain fruit tree orchard fruit juice fruiti KE lesson 3%, meaning “lesson”, is ing Is based oa words (& ) and fruit (& ). A lesson (3%) involves the use instruction (3) to produce results, Le., bear fruit ®, Bat, for words to be fruit- i, take a lesson from the pro- verk: “Bitter words are medicine; sweet words bring ill- RA ke bin textbook URINE A) ke wai hud ding extra-curricular TRE ke chéng course; curriculum activities GRE; TRS be téng; ke shi classroom ik ging ké homework iRyb ke wai outside class Lik shiing ke attend class TRS ke wen text FoR xia ke finish class RR Ry after school NiRR ging ke bido time-table Example: LRH RE RWW. Shing Ké shi yo ahd yl thg_jidng It means, “Please pay attention in class.” 165THE seal torm: & depicts three fledglings in’a nest on top of 3 tree. In the re form: main, missin fruit ¢ for long, according to the saying: “If you upset a nest, you cannot ex. any whole eggs underneath.” 1S BX cchéo xue den; lair FER fei chéo bandits’ lair BR nigo chdo bird's nest Example: RELA O ABB, ‘Shi shang you yi 8 nido chido It means, “There is a bird’s nest on the tree.”mo tip; end JUST as the root (A) of a tree ( % ) is empl by a horizontal stroke (— at its base, so the top of the tree (4 ) is indieated by a long horizontal line (—) at the top: #, suggesting the tip or end - its limit, In growing upright like the tree, man also has his limit fer, as the proverb puts it, “There are more trees upright than upright men” AAR mo dai last reign of a KA mini end; doomsday : as dynasty aK ato md weekend ia na ta finally Ait mb id the later and ART mai last; finally decadent stage of Re md 10 dead end a school of aM mgr last stage; final thoughts, etc. phase Example: WERKE RRP ER. Te xt bwin adi andy md aii It means, “He likes to bring his children out during weekends.” 1677 ; ; not; not yet THIS character is to he distinguished from 4 (limit) in that the horizontal stroke across the is much shorter: 4. In the top line is emphasized; in & it is subdued, not full ‘Those ‘who have “not yet” ai tained their end should exercise patience and take heart from the proverb: “A giant tree grows from a tiny bud.” Ks wai bi not necessarily; AK future may not SE unfinished RE wai céng have not; never | 333% unknown RE vai ding uncertain: FIOM unknown number undoes AiVILALB wai yl chou mév take precautions AAG wai bin unmarried Example: th HARM BER. TE dul wai di gin boning rn It means, “He is at a loss over his future.” 168tk MEI younger sister #,, the phonetic, is a tree in full leat ‘and branch, but not fay mature and means: “not ”. With the addition of the radical for girl (>), the character for “youn er sister” is formed. Hence girl (© ) who has not yet ( 6) reached maturity. Char Fae PCO TRI mai f0 younger sister's Blk ido mai younger female husband cousin RR mai mei younger sister Example: RHRAK ARK. WS de digo mai zhing de én pido lidng It means, “My cousin is very pretty.” 16948 - elder sister & is the radical for girl or woman. 41, the phonetic, is a picture of a stool (11) with two rungs ( = ), standing on the ground (_}, now borrowed for the conjunction: “moreover”. In our picture, the stool is not the only thing that distinguishes older sister from younger sister. (| |e [aan MA Jie 0 elder sister's husband Aa i jie elder sister Example: FAY HW Ok me HOHE Wi de jib fie a tuan chr id tidn It means, “My elder sister likes durians.” aR ji mai Fett bido jik 170 sisters elder female cousine,\*" affection 2 THE regular for is made up of (4s (breathe into), «cr (heart) and (grations motion), implying that what gives breath to the heart and inspires gracieas motion is love — an idealistic Jove. The simplifed form: highlights the rele of friendship: hand 7 in hand X. co-operation) — a more reali leve. But whatever form love may take, neve can excel the selfless and unselfish love based on the principle extolled in the jerk: “Those who love others will themselves be loved.” PTFE PEE ze ai qué patriotic Ea ai ging love (between man Ee ai hao interest; hobby and woman) EP ai hd cherish; take good | #A ai rén sweetheart care of BN aig treasure; cherish RY ai lién show tender £ ai zing love and hate erection on BRA Ate tin Ireland ES ai lian be in love with ZAKLE aibishi shiv fondle admiringly BR ai md adore; admire Example: A He EK GBH Dh. Wid Méi xT tuan kin ai ing. xido_ stu: It means, “Xiao Mei likes to read romances.” 171XIANG IOS | think; nope THIS character is composed of #8 (inspect) and «=> (heart). The phonetic: #8 represents an Fe (H) behind a tree (4) on ti lookout for possible danger, and signifies to examine Combination with the (heart, mind) produc ing to’ examine o Ireart or milnds ee, to"hink pon. der or hope. it FF I nie sala sage fa xing dao think of, call to he xiing qi recall 7 mind AES wing aidng imagine; fancy xidng f8 think of a way; ABARBI xiang bu dao unexpected. Whatone has in | A7°JF ing bu ka?_—_take things too man a hard; take a ADR xing lai it may be assumed matter to heart that eT ae a : , Baw fing Gang rén take for granted MAS wgridn remember with | 4 7E ing eH not take to heart longing: b ee ee longing; miss ABAAEIE xing 1 f8i fai indulge in fantasy Example: KRMRKRET. WO ning wi gat zhu le It means, “I'm afraid I must be going now.” 1721Z (ta) yi recall; remember; reflect _ THE phonetic: denotes sound (&) in the heart or mind (<3), i.e, intention or thought. The addition of another heart (the radical ‘t) to thought (%) suggests to — to reflect or remember: he simplified form combines heart (‘t) with second (©) producing tz. PER | liz hui yi recollect 2IZARH ivyi youn remain fresh in wiz ity remember one’s memory wiz iyi memory Example: RN RUA RB. Woode ji yi hin cha It means, “My memory is very poor.” 173‘ANG Ct|” 70. forget THE old form of the phonetic: ¢ represents someone entering (A) a place of concealment (L-), and means fo disappear or perish: (4). The addition of the heart radical: x enforces the idea of “lost mind” or a mind that ceases to act; hence, to forget: ©. Minds should’ not be lost when it comes to the memorable proverb: “Forget favours given: remember vours received.” wang bén forget one’s origin | SIZ wang xing wang dido forget TES wang nidn jiéo wang huai forget wang ji forget GX wang’ én fi wang ging be unmoved fas ifn wang wang wo selfless. Example: WB eREKR, Bis wang jt WS ml stu gus It means, “Don’t forget to buy fruits for me.” 174 be beside oneself friendship between generations ungrateful forgetfulKUAL quick; fast ‘M& has two components: ‘+ (heart) and %. An old form of & is R, representing a ing hand (3) holding half (P) of a bilateral object (s) that may be easily or quickly split. In another form, the hand wn drawing a ready to shoot an As quickness de- pends on ‘the mind or heart, the heart component (+t) is added to reinforce the idea of quick or fast: bs. MMGaiaceaes | Rey vai bi trot PR vai 18 happy TE vai can quick meal; snack | {ie kuai man speed Bee ual che express train or Poe kuai sd fast es ‘eae kai ting speedboat teak Wai gn Pleasant sensation | 4 A0%#8 —kuai ma ji@ bizn at high speed Bae vai hud merry Example: KRA- DR RO RE. Wi yu yi GB ai de jit ting It means, “I have a happy family.” 175BB) CONG haste; hurry; alarm ‘THE original ideograph depicted a restless heart (<) prompting one to peep anxiously through the window {G). Hence the meaning: haste, excite- ment or alarm. The haste shown even in the evolution of this exciting character — from the seal form: & to and % and, with utter disregard for the heart (ci), in the final form: @ — gives cause for alarm. V Yavavalal | |_| rt BA cing cong hurriedly BNE cng cd hastily amit ng mang hastily; hurriec Example: hone Tee ete. Ta cong cing ch’ le zo can didn shing xe It means, “After hurrying through his breakfast, he went to school.” 176

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