Learn one Chinese Character a day - "字"

Since we have learnt a few Chinese characters, today we will try to understand how Chinese represent the meaning of character, which is "字". recall the meaning of "子", you might wonder how Character can be related to baby?

Let us have a look at its evolution history first: (image get from http://www.vividict.com)

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "字"

The Oracle script writing of "字" is missing, from its Bronze script , it means a man to build a house  (we will see lot of Chinese characters created with ),  get married then have their baby born to the family.  This is the original meaning of "字" - Man builds a house, marries his wife then become fruitful and multiply their descendants. This meaning only exists in ancient articles while is no longer used now.

While in ancient China, population of a tribe decides whether it is strong or not. People sometimes would steal the new born babies from other people or tribes to increase their own labours. Chinese ancestors then start to mark different symbols onto their babies to identify the parents they belong to. This extra step associated with original meaning of  is then represented with "字" as well. so "字" is probably the earliest tattoo on earth. The process to mark babies slowly evolved to be part of the rite of passage.

"字" means Character.

Let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with "字" inside:

Learn one Chinese Character a day - "字"