Thursday, May 23, 2024

Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (9) East (东/東), Bright (杲), Dark (杳)

 The Shell Bone Script of character East

The middle is shell bone script of character Sun

The shell bone script of character Wood


is inserted into the character Sun, indicating the sun is in the middle of the tree, sunshine direction from is east.

Another interpretation suggests it depicts a bundle tied to a wooden pole, used for carrying items when traveling far. However, this theory is less plausible given the low productivity, underdeveloped commerce, and infrequent long-distance travel over 3500 years ago. There is no evidence linking traveling with the direction east, thus the sun and tree explanation is more convincing.

The Bronze Script of character East

Similar to the Oracle Bone Script.

The Big Seal Script of character East 

The Similar to Oracle Bone and Bronze scripts.

Small Seal Script character East 

Maintains the sun and tree elements but with more rounded lines.

The Clerical Script of character East 

Strokes become straight.

The Simplified Character of song typeface

The original pictographic elements are lost in the simplified version of "東".

Let's see character Bright.

The Bone Script of character Bright

The top is Shell Bone Script of character Sun, the bottom is character Wood, here it means tree.

The sun is above the tree, indicating midday and brightness. 

The big seal script of character Bright

Similar to shell bone script.

The Small Seal Script of character Bright

Lines become more rounded.

The Clerical Script of character Bright

Lines straighten.

Let's see character Dark.

There are no Shell Bone Script of character Dar,; the earliest form found is the Big Seal Script.

The Big Seal Script of character Dark

The tree is above, and the sun is below, indicating the sun setting behind the trees, hence the meaning of sunset and dark.

The Small Seal Script of character Dark

Similar to Big Seal Script but with rounded lines.

The Clerical Script of character Dark

Lines are straightened.

Summary


All three characters, 東, 杲, and 杳, consist of the elements tree (木) and sun (日), with their relative positions changing the meaning:

東 (East): Sun and tree, depicting the sun rising through the trees.

杲 (Bright): Sun above the tree, indicating brightness and midday.

杳 (Dark): Tree above the sun, representing sunset and darkness.

Each character exhibits clear pictographic significance, reflecting their meanings through their compositions.

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