“梦” (meng, dream) is an associative and pictophonetic
character. In the oracle bone inscriptions, the right part of “梦”
looks like a standing bed and the left part a man on the bed
DREAM
who is sleeping with his hands on the head. The pose is
associated with dreams people have while sleeping. When the
Chinese writing evolved into the form of the small seal script,
the character was simplified and added with another character
“夕” (xi, night), which was meant to suggest dreams occurred
in the night. In the case of the regular script, no changes are
observed in the structure, while in terms of simplified Chinese,
it becomes the present easy-to-write character “梦”.
People are not sober while dreaming, so “做梦” (zuomeng, to
dream) is extended to mean “something illusionary”; “梦呓”
(mengyi) does not only refer to the act or habit of talking in
one's sleep, but also absurd remarks. As early as the ancient
times, the Chinese had been studying on dreams. According to
the traditional Chinese medicine theory, the occurrence of
dreams can be due to the uneasy sleep caused by physical
reasons. Psychological reasons can also cause dreaming,
therefore there is the saying of “You will dream at night about
what you have been mediated over during the daytime”.
“晶” (Jing, brilliant") is an associative character that's
made up of three "ri" (“日”, meaning "the sun") characters in
the oracle bone inscriptions. The three-sun structure indicates
exceptional brilliance. Some in ancient times regarded it as a
pictographic character, as it looks like the stars in the night
sky. The stars are glittery, so the original meaning of this
character is "bright, luminous". The form of the character
changed little throughout the ages, remaining the same from
the small seal script to the regular script.
From the basic meaning of "jing", the character had some
extended meanings such as "clear, transparent" and "sparkling"
etc. It can also be combined with the word "shui" to mean
"shuijing" or "crystal". In ancient China, crystal was regarded as
the essence of water due to its clear and transparent nature. It
was believed to be a sacred matter and a symbol for
auspiciousness.
BRILLIANT
”舞” (Wu, dance) is a pictographic character. In the oracle bone
inscriptions, it looks like a front-facing person waving ox tails (ancient
dance props) with both hands. The dancing posture presented in this
character explains its original meaning - “dance”. In the bronze
inscriptions, the image of hands holding ox tails is strengthened. In
DANCE
addition, a double person (“彳”) radical is added to the left bottom and
a “zhi” (“止”, walk) radical to the right bottom, highlighting the role
of human feet. In the small seal script, the character is simplified from
its version in the bronze inscriptions, with two feet added to the
dancing figure, strengthening the dancer's feet even more. This shape
basically remains in the regular script. The character “wu” contains a
lot of strokes. For Chinese beginners, understanding its structure and
evolving process helps them write the character.
Dancing is a happy thing to do, so the character had derivative
meanings like “encouraging”, “inspiring” etc. The origin of ancient
Chinese dances dates back to remote antiquity, before drums and
musical instruments were invented. Our ancestors would strike one
stone with another to beat time and hunters donning in animal skins,
wearing plumes on the head and holding ox tails in both hands would
dance to the strong rhythms and imitate flying birds and leaping
beats. Their dances were bold and unrestrained, with great passion
and vitality, showing the group strength unique to primitive tribes.
Later, primitive dances were increasingly diversified and referred to as
“music dances”, which were an art form combining music, poetry and
dance. Well-known historical dances include Sword Dance, Dance of
Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Dress, Huxuan Dance, Wave Dance and
so on.
In the oracle bone inscriptions,
“力” (li, power) is a
pictographic character. The curving top part means the plough
handle and the bottom refers to the plough head, so it is a very
simple symbol of an ancient farm tool and therefore the
original meaning of this character is such a tool. As time goes
by, this farm tool was then towed by ox instead of man. So the
original meaning of “力” is replaced by “犁” (li, plough), and
becomes a character carrying the meaning of “power”. The
writing styles of small seal script and regular script are all
derived from oracle bone inscriptions, in which a rough shape
can still be noticed. “力” is also a radical complement in
Chinese, and most of the characters comprising of it and other
radicals have something to do with the meaning of “power”
and “action”, like “努”(nu, exert).
POWER
BEAUTY
“美” (Mei, beauty) is written as in oracle bone
inscriptions, which resembles a man with two long decorative
feathers on head. In small seal script, another form appears as ,
which consists of a “羊” (sheep) on a “大” (big). The
two forms appear similar in strokes, however, with
distinctly different stress. The former seems to
indicate the impression of being decorated, while the latter
emphasizes our impression on fat sheep. Finally the same
meaning is indicated, that is, "beauty". The word in regular
script was an evolvement from that in small seal script.
In the oracle bone inscriptions, “you” (
友) is like two hands
reaching out toward the same direction, symbolizing giving
help with both hands. So the meaning of “you” is “people with
a common goal and having similar ideals and beliefs”. In the
seal script, the character is also like two hands, with slight
changes in the form. The “you” character in modern Chinese is
derived from its earlier versions.
Today, people sharing same hobbies are referred to as “you”, or
“friends”, as in phrases like “piaoyou” (meaning “an amateur
performer [of Beijing opera, etc.]), “chayou” (meaning “a friend
you drink tea with”) etc. In ancient Chinese, “you” and “peng”
(朋) had different meanings, with the former referring to “a
friend” and the latter “a classmate”. In other words, those
studying under the same teacher are classmates and those
sharing the same interests are friends. The phrase “pengyou”
(meaning “a friend”) in modern Chinese actually has the
meaning of “you” only.
FRIEND
Jia (family) is a pictographic character. In the oracle bone
inscriptions, the upper part of the character is a house and the
lower one (豕) is another character for pig (猪) in Chinese. So
it is obvious that the earliest
FAMILY
“家” was the house for the
pig and later it became the residential place of the human
beings, but the character retains its original form. That’s why
even today we can still clearly see the character “家” with a pig
(豕) under the roof of a house.
Our Chinese attach great importance to “family” which bears
profound connotations to us. Tender feeling for hometown and
the country, the wanderer returning to his birthplace, all these
sensibilities derived from the conception of “family” have
become the strong nostalgic feeling for the motherland long
cherished by our Chinese home and abroad. This affection has
supported the Chinese nation all the way through the past
several thousand years. Despite the numerous tribulations, the
destitution and homelessness, and the wandering life in other
places, we would always cherish our homebound affection,
thus bringing up the constant prosperity of the ancient
civilized China.
DRAGON
"Long" (Dragon) is a divine beast with a snake body
in the ancient legends of China. The appearance of
the character in the oracle bone inscriptions
suggests that the legends of the dragon have a long history. In
the oracle bone inscriptions, it is a pictographic word, the
upper part of which is a head of a peculiar beast with long
horns and a protruding big mouth, while the lower part looks
like the coiling body of a snake.
For the modern Chinese, the image of the dragon is more of a
symbol, an emotion, and a tender feeling of the connection of
flesh and blood. The titles such as "offspring of the dragon" and
"descendants of the dragon" often arouse in us the feeling of
excitement, aspiration and pride. The dragon culture has not
only been inherited and spread in the vast territory of China,
but also been brought to all the corners of the world by
overseas Chinese.