A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Decoding Chinese Characters
This blog post was written by Project Pengyou 2016 Summer intern, Yixuan Lim.
囧 (jiŏng) – you’ve probably seen this Chinese character before, probably tossed around somewhere on an Internet forum. You may have even used it yourself, to express an intense sense of despair or frustration that you were feeling at a particular moment. When you used it, you probably assumed that that was exactly what the word means.
Well, that is perhaps 50% correct. The character 囧 has attained cult/meme status and is popularly used to convey despair or embarrassment. However, it’s original meaning is actually a patterned window, or bright sunlight shining into a cave.
The earliest Chinese characters, very much like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, were picture symbols that closely resembled the objects they were supposed to signify. Chinese characters developed over centuries (and millennia) from the early forms of the oracle bone and seal scripts, and it is still possible to find these picture symbols in modern Chinese characters, both simplified and traditional. While not all characters are as in-your-face as 囧, taking a closer look for the pictures they contain not only helps you show off in class, but also memorize the character meanings!
Chinese Character Break-Down
Roll up your sleeves, because we are going to look at four Chinese characters that can be broken down into parts. Don’t worry, we will be taking it step-by-step.
眊 (mào) – Poor eyesight
To begin, we will start with a simple word of two parts, 目 (mù, eye) on the left and 毛 (máo, fur or hair) on the right, which also provides the sound for the character. Together, 目+毛 gives the picture of having fur or hair over one’s eyes – a sure recipe for poor eyesight.
明 (míng) – Bright
This word also has two parts, 日 (rì, sun) and 月 (yuè, moon), which are both sources of brightness. A more philosophical interpretation is that the moon, which is commonly associated with the night and darkness, provides a counterpoint to the sun. The character 明 thus reflects a philosophical point of view: darkness is needed to balance out light, one must understand the dual nature of reality to achieve enlightenment or understanding (or 明白).
Some also note that in earlier versions of the word, the 日 part of the character was actually a window, and 明 depicted moonlight streaming through the window.
鱻 (xiān) – Fresh
This word has three identical parts, 魚 (yú, fish). Now, what do three fish stacked together mean? This character means fresh, and also connotes a sense of vibrancy.
聽 (trad.) (tīng) – To listen
We are now up to our final challenge, a traditional character with four components: 耳 ( ear), 王 (wáng, king), 目 (mù, eyes rotated horizontally) and 心 (xīn, heart). This character paints a picture of someone listening intently with his ear, his eyes, and with his heart, having reverence for the speaker as if he were the king.
Hopefully, the above exercise has been fun and enlightening! As seen in the case of 明, there can be different interpretations for any one character… Sometimes, the experts can help us out by looking into the historical evolution of the character. In cases where the evidence is still ambiguous, we can turn to the wisdom of the philosopher John Stuart Mill: “since the general or prevailing opinion on any subject is rarely or never the whole truth, it is only by the collision of adverse opinions that the remainder of the truth has any chance of being supplied”. Different interpretations allow one to think of Chinese characters from a variety of angles.
3 Resources for Breaking Down Characters
The pictorial aspect of Chinese characters can aid efficient learning and memorization, especially for non-native Chinese learners. Many different platforms are capitalizing on this fact, such as the three below:
1. Bamboochee
Bamboochee is an Instagram account (@bamboochee) that wants to help learners of Chinese decode Chinese characters. Bamboochee focuses on the historical evolution of characters and looks into older forms of the script. This resource is useful for both newer and more experienced learners of Chinese, to deepen your understanding of the meanings behind Chinese characters and allow you to explore the richness of the Chinese language.
Bamboochee explains 友 in a detailed, easy-to-understand manner:
【友=又+又】
友 represents two holding hands (又).
In regular script, the upper 又 has changed into .
– 朋友 (péng you): friend.
Read the founder Yinjie Wang’s account of why she started bamboochee.
2. Outlier Chinese Dictionary
The Outlier dictionary, a successful Kickstarter project, is an online dictionary that dissects the functional components of Chinese characters. It seeks to bridge the academic-popular divide in terms of Chinese character learning by translating dense research about Chinese linguistics and palaeography to mainstream audiences.
Read our previous article on Outlier dictionary: Outlier linguistics wants to demystify Chinese characters for Pengyous. Also, view their kickstarter here.
3. Choumeizai (and other Youtube channels)
Last but not least, choumeizai is a Youtube channel that provides short, interactive video clips explaining the roots of Chinese characters, and is definitely worth a visit!
Visit choumeizai’s Youtube channel here.
Are there any other useful Chinese learning resources that focus on breaking down Chinese characters that we missed? Do include it in the comments! Hot on the heels of Mandarin Month, which held its finale mixer on the 25th of June, we are glad to contribute to the movement by providing resources to encourage the study of Mandarin in Beijing, and hope that Pengyous will continue to have fun breaking down Chinese characters!
Sources: Quora 1 & 2, Confused Laowai (Chinese Character Break Down)
Image sources: Fluentu.com (featured image) 虎, eye, 明, 鱻, 聽, Outlier dictionary