Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (22) Single, Double, Gather - 只（隻），双（雙），集

The Shell Bone Script of character Single is

The lower part shows a hand, and the up-right part shows a bird. A hand catching a bird represents the character Single, or One.

The Bronze Script of character Single is

The top part shows a bird, and the lower right part shows a hand.

The Small Seal Script of character Single is

The top part means a small bird, and the bottom part shows a hand.

The Clerical Script of character Single is

The top 隹 is bird, the bottom X is hand.

In the traditional song typeface is: 

The bottom part "又" means hand.

During the simplification of Chinese characters, "隻" was merged into another simplified song typeface

Absolutely no any connection with the older scripts, lost all pictography. I don't know where it is from.

The traditional song typeface "隻" was abolished.

Now let's look at the character Double.

There is no Shell Bone Script or Bronze Script for character Double. The earliest form is in Bit Seal Script:

The top part shows two birds ("隹"), representing two birds. The bottom part shows a hand. A hand holding two birds represents the character Double, or Pair. 

The Small Seal Script of character Double is

Two "隹" with one hand.

The Clerical Script of character Double is

The bottom part "又" means hand.

The Simplified Song Typeface

This simplification is quite unusual, not retaining the two "隹" at the top but changing the bottom "又" to two "又" characters. Perhaps two "隹" were still too many strokes, whereas two "又" have fewer strokes. Of course, two hands also represent the meaning of "double."

Now let's look at the character Gather.

The Shell Bone Script of character Gather is

The top part shows a flying bird, and the bottom part shows a tree. Here, the tree means "tree." Birds flying towards the tree (meaning many birds flying towards the tree) represent the character Gather.

The Bronze Script of character Gather is

Three birds standing on a tree: to gather, or assemble, or collect.

The Big Seal Script of character Gather is

One bird ("隹") standing on a tree. Why one bird? It is simplified drawing. If drawing three birds, the space is two small, and difficult to draw.

The Small Seal Script of character Gather is

Still one bird and one tree.

The Clerical Script of character Gather is

One bird ("隹") and one tree.

Only the Bronze Script of "集" uses three "隹," while the other scripts use just one "隹." However, this is mainly for ease of writing (three "隹" take up too much space), but the meaning remains the same: many birds gathering on a tree. These three characters are all related to "隹," meaning small birds. One "隹" is 隻 (single), two "隹" are 雙 (double), and three "隹" are 集 (gather). These are all associative compounds, representing the number of birds to express single, double, and gather. This is a very ingenious way of expression, reflecting the wisdom of ancient Chinese people.

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Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (21）Strange - 奇，Ride - 骑

Shell Bone Script of character Strange is

The above script depicts a person riding a horse. The current widely accepted theory is that horses were domesticated in Central Asia around 4000 BCE and were introduced to China from there. Initially, horses were mainly used for pulling carts, especially war chariots. Cavalry only appeared in China during the Spring and Autumn period. This means that during the Oracle Bone Script period, Chinese people did not ride horses. Therefore, the original meaning of the character "奇" was likely a person from the Western regions riding a horse, which referred to the non-Han people, or "Hu people." For the people in the Yellow River basin, riding a horse was a strange thing, which is the explanation given by the Pictograph Dictionary.

This explanation seems reasonable, but it could also be that the appearance of horse-riding Westerners seemed strange to the Chinese, or perhaps it was a combination of both.

Big Seal Script of character Strange is

the upper part "大" represents the person riding the horse, and the lower part "可" represents the horse and saddle.

Small Seal Script of character Strange is

The Small Seal Script is similar to the Large Seal Script in structure.

Clerical Script of character Strange is

As time passed, the meaning of "奇" as "strange" became more prevalent than the original meaning of "riding a horse." Therefore, the ancient people added a horse radical (馬) to create a new character "騎" specifically to refer to riding a horse or a horse rider.

Let's see the character Ride.

Big Seal Script of character Ride is

On the left is the horse radical, and on the right is the character "奇."

Small Seal Script of character Ride is

The left part is the Small Seal Script form of the horse radical, and the right part is the Small Seal Script form of "奇," similar to the Large Seal Script form of "奇."

Clerical Script (隶书) of character Ride is

Simplified Song Typeface of character Ride is

The original form of "奇" related to horse riding has disappeared, and now it only retains the meaning of "strange", the original meaning of riding is replaced by 骑.

Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (20) Same - 同，Prosper - 兴（興）

Shell Bone Script of character Same is

The upper part represents a brick mold, and the lower part shows pressing mud into the brick mold and then cutting off the excess, producing the brick blank. Since they all come from the same mold, the size and shape are identical.

Bronze Script of character Same is

Similar to the Oracle Bone Script, but the two vertical lines are elongated, making the mold somewhat asymmetrical.

Small Seal Script of character Same is

The mold no longer resembles its original form.

Clerical Script of character Same is

Similar to the Small Seal Script, it no longer looks like a mold.

Now, let's look at the character Prosper. 

Shell Bone Script of character Prosper is

Previously, the middle part is the Shell Bone Script of character Same - 同 above. 同 is the mold. There are two hands on top, fingers down, two hands on the bottom, fingers up. 

Two hands lift a piece of mud up, fingers up (the bottom image of shell bone script above)

then he releases the mud into mold, his fingers pointing down (the top image of shell bone script above).

Using a taut wire to cut off the excess mud. This is what the upper part of the Shell Bone Script of character Prosper depicts.

Two hands are taking the finished bricks away and stacking them to dry. 

Why make bricks? To build houses, bridges, and palaces. In ancient times, most common people lived in straw huts, and those who could live in wooden houses were considered well-off. Brick houses were very rare, usually only for emperors, and even then, only in very prosperous times, so brick making was a symbol of prosperity.

Bronze Script of character Prosper is

The bricks are triangular and far from the mold, likely due to casting technique issues causing deformation.

Small Seal Script of character Prosper is

The brick mold and brick blocks are very close.

Clerical Script of character Prosper is

The upper part is similar to the Small Seal Script, while the hands in the lower part have turned into two dots.

The Song Typeface of character Prosper is

Now we must ask: How did the traditional character Prosper become the simplified character?

Cursive Script of character Prosper

The first character is simplified, while the remaining five are the traditional "興". They are all written vaguely. The left hand is replaced by a vertical stroke, and the middle part sometimes looks like "月," "习" or "刁." Only the right hand is clearly written. The simplest is the bottom left, almost just four vertical strokes, with vague lines and two dots. Some are written even more simply.

This is the source of simplified characters. The four vertical strokes above were simplified to three dots, though it's unclear why not four. Perhaps people wrote three strokes, and the extra strokes were vague. Three strokes can represent many strokes.

Many simplified characters have traces of cursive script, so understanding some cursive script can help understand the origin of simplified Chinese characters.

Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (19）Dream - 梦（夢）and Illusion -（幻）

Shell Bone Script of character Dream

On the left is a person, and on the right is a bed. Shell bone script was written on bamboo slips, which were very narrow, making horizontal writing difficult. Hence, many characters are written vertically, such as tiger (虎), horse (馬), dog (犬), pig (豕), elephant (象), etc. 

Some might ask, "Weren't shell bone scripts written on shell bones? How can you say they were written on bamboo slips?" The discovered shell bone scripts are indeed carved on bones because only bones can withstand over more three thousand years of weathering and remain intact. Bamboo slips would have long decayed and not survived. Similarly, bronze inscriptions (金文) survived because their metal vessel carriers could remain intact, whereas those written on bamboo slips did not.

The Big Seal Script of character Dream

At the top are eyebrows, in the middle is an eye, and the curved strokes represent a person's body. Below is the character "夕" (xi), meaning the evening when the sun has set, it’s dark, and time to sleep. Here, the bed is omitted.

The Small Seal Script of character Dream

The eyebrows at the top look like the radical for grass (艹). Next is the horizontal "目" (eye). The body below encloses the "夕" (evening) character, fulfilling the symmetry of the small seal script but losing its pictographic nature.

The Clerical Script of character Dream

Since the small seal script wrote the eyebrows like the grass head, the clerical script is similar, the top is the grass head. Below is the horizontal eye, and the body resembles a semi-covered person (though no longer looking like one), with the "夕" below.

The Simplified Chinese of character Dream

At the top is "林" (forest), and at the bottom is "夕." How this simplification came about is unknown. Some believe it derived from cursive script. However, after checking cursive script, this does not seem to be the case. It’s possible that an individual wrote it this way, and a simplification expert adopted it. But standardized cursive script certainly does not write it this way.

Now, let's look at the character Illusion.

The Bronze Script of character Illusion (no oracle bone script found)

A tree branch hangs with a spider web. After the rain, the web appears to change colors in the sunlight.

The Big Seal Script of character Illusion

Similar to the bronze script.

The Small Seal Script of character Illusion

The tree branch turns into a small handle, and the spider web becomes two overlapping triangles.

The Clerical Script of character Illusion

The left radical is a twisted silk thread representing the spider web, and the right radical is the tree branch. This script actually resembles the bronze and large seal scripts more than the small seal script. Regular script and Song typeface have hardly changed in two thousand years.

In conclusion, while the characters "dream" and "illusion" have evolved over millennia, their origins provide fascinating insights into ancient Chinese writing and the preservation of meaning through various script styles.

Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (18）Slave - 奴 and Anger - 怒

Shell bone script for character Slave

On the left is a character Woman, and on the right, below, is a hand. A person grabs a woman, forcing her to become a slave.

Bronze script for character Slave

On the left is a character Woman (女), and on the bottom right is a hand.

Big seal script for character Slave

On the left is a character Woman, and on the right, below, is a hand.

Small seal script for character Slave

The left side shows a woman with a long stroke, while the hand on the right side grabs the woman from above.

Clerical script for character Slave

On the left is character Woman (女), and on the right, the character for hand (又) has evolved from its original form. "Slave" initially referred to female slaves but later included male slaves as well. Essentially, it signifies individuals who are enslaved.

Now let's examine the character Anger.

Big seal script for character Anger

The top part is character Slave (奴), and the bottom part is character Heart(心). The heart of a slave is filled with anger. Slaves are oppressed, forced to do hard labor, have no freedom, and may even be beaten and underfed. Naturally, they harbor an angry heart. Ancient scholars observed this societal phenomenon and expressed it vividly through characters.

Small seal script for character Anger

The top part is character Slave (奴), and the bottom part is character Heart (心).

Clerical script for character Anger

The slave's heart is anger.