{"id":7357,"date":"2012-03-03T07:09:20","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T12:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=7357"},"modified":"2012-03-03T07:09:21","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T12:09:21","slug":"chinese-characters-vol-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-characters-vol-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s in a Chinese Character? (Vol. 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a while since we talked about Chinese characters (find Vol. 1 here<\/a>), so let’s look at a few more examples. Last time, we looked at the character for person<\/strong> (\u4eba – r\u00e9n), so now let’s take a closer look at a person.<\/p>\n

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The evolution of "face."<\/p><\/div>\n

Take a look in the mirror at your beautiful face<\/strong> (\u9762 – mi\u00e0n). This character has evolved over time, beginning with a basic drawing of a human face. It also has a few other meanings, including “noodle” and “surface.” In Chinese culture, the concept of “face” – basically meaning dignity or prestige – is huge. “Losing face<\/strong>” (\u4e22\u9762\u5b50 – di\u016b mi\u00e0n zi) is a terrible thing, and this happens when you’re embarrassed or humiliated, when you lose, when you’re criticized in front of others, and so on.<\/p>\n

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How the character for "eye" came to be.<\/p><\/div>\n

The reason you’re able to see your lovely face in the mirror, of course, is your eyes<\/strong> (\u76ee – m\u00f9). The earliest form of this character clearly showed an eye, and over time it lost its curves and was turned on its side. It’s also used as a radical in many other characters having to do with sight, such as: look<\/strong> (\u770b \u2013 k\u00e0n), wink<\/strong> (\u7728 \u2013 zh\u01ce), and TV program<\/strong> (\u7535\u89c6\u8282\u76ee – di\u00e0n sh\u00ec ji\u00e9 m\u00f9).<\/p>\n

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Listen up!<\/p><\/div>\n

Similarly, the character for ear<\/strong> (\u8033 – \u011ar) also evolved from a pictograph, becoming more stylized over time. This too is used as a radical, in characters having to do with hearing. Some examples include: headphones<\/strong> (\u8033\u673a – \u011br j\u012b – lit. “ear machine”), chat<\/strong> (\u804a – li\u00e1o), and whisper<\/strong> (\u8033\u8bed – \u011br y\u01d4).<\/p>\n

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The simple character for "mouth."<\/p><\/div>\n

Perhaps one of the easiest Chinese characters to learn is the one for mouth<\/strong> (\u53e3 – k\u01d2u) – it’s simply a box that looks like an open mouth. It’s used in other words, such as entrance<\/strong> (\u5165\u53e3 – r\u00f9 k\u01d2u) and exit<\/strong> (\u51fa\u53e3 – ch\u016b k\u01d2u). Not surprisingly, it’s also a radical, and it’s used in characters having to do with the mouth, such as to call<\/strong> (\u53eb \u2013 ji\u00e0o), to recite\/chant<\/strong> (\u552a \u2013 f\u011bng), and even the word suck<\/strong> (\u542e \u2013 sh\u01d4n). And if you’re not down with Chinese, I’ve got two characters for you – \u542e\u5b83!<\/p>\n

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Yeah, I'm an old-school wrestling fan.<\/p><\/div>\n

Next up, let’s look at the character for hand<\/strong> (\u624b – sh\u01d2u). It kind of looks like a hand, right? You’ll often see this character in restaurants, as some items are touted as “hand-made<\/strong>” (\u624b\u5de5 – sh\u01d2u g\u014dng). Since a chef uses his hands so much to tear vegetables, they can be described as “hand-torn<\/strong>” (\u624b\u6495 – sh\u01d2u s\u012b). Look closely at the character for I\/me<\/strong> (\u6211 – w\u01d2). It’s a hand<\/strong> (\u624b) holding a spear<\/strong> (\u6208 – g\u0113) – a clear symbol of ego assertion. It should be noted that the mirror image of \u624b is \u6bdb (m\u00e1o), as in Chairman Mao. In a restaurant, you might see “Chairman Mao’s red-cooked pork<\/strong>” (\u6bdb\u6c0f\u7d05\u71d2\u8089 – m\u00e1o sh\u00ec h\u00f3ng sh\u0101o r\u00f2u), which was his favorite dish.<\/p>\n

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Chinese is a real "hands" on language.<\/p><\/div>\n

We know the character for person, but what happens when you put two people together? Well, one person follows another while they go from <\/strong>(\u4ece – c\u00f3ng) one place to another. Do you see it? \u4eba + \u4eba = \u4ece. With thousands upon thousands of Chinese characters out there, think of all the fun you can have learning about them all!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

It’s been a while since we talked about Chinese characters (find Vol. 1 here), so let’s look at a few more examples. Last time, we looked at the character for person (\u4eba – r\u00e9n), so now let’s take a closer look at a person. Take a look in the mirror at your beautiful face (\u9762…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":7364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[36390,127266,127267],"class_list":["post-7357","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-chinese-characters","tag-losing-face","tag-127267"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t