Pictographic Meaning of Chinese characters (13) New Year's Greetings - 拜年

 The Bronze Script for '拜' - Worship

The left side of the Shell Bone Script: on the right is '麦' (wheat), and on the left is '手' (hand). In ancient times, during the ceremony of worshipping heave"New Year's Greetingsn, people held wheat ears in their hands to pray for good weather and bountiful harvests.

The Big Seal Script for '拜' - Worship

Two wheat ears, no hand.

The Small Seal Script for '拜' - Worship

On the left is a hand, and on the right is a wheat ear. It looks somewhat like a hand, but with an added horizontal stroke at the bottom to distinguish it.

The Clerical Script for '拜' - Worship

On the left is a 'hand', but the vertical stroke extends outward. On the right is a wheat ear.

In ancient times, food was precious, and holding a wheat ear in one's hand while paying respect was a very formal and solemn act. However, as productivity increased and wheat ears were no longer so precious, people stopped holding wheat ears when paying respects. Later, it became common to hold incense while praying to Buddha or ancestors.

Now, let's look at '年' (Year).

The Shell Bone Script for '年' - Year

At the top

is the '禾' character, which represents a rice ear.

At the bottom

is a person.

This can be understood as a person holding a rice ear and threshing it to separate the grains from the stalks.

Or, a person carrying a rice ear home.

In any case, it represents the autumn harvest season, marking the end of a rice-growing cycle.

The Big Seal Script for '年' - Worship

At the top is a rice ear, and the person below is represented by a stroke and a curved vertical line to the right.

The Small Seal Script for '年' - Worship

At the bottom is a person

with a horizontal line added.

This character is '千' (thousand). '千' is the original character for '迁' (to move), indicating that the original meaning of '千' was 'to move', symbolizing people moving the rice ears back home.

The Clerical Script for '年'

The top is 禾 （rice seedling), the bottom is 千，not easy to figure out because it lost the pictography.

The Chinese originally paid respects for the New Year and later also paid respects to Bodhisattvas. The year represents a cyclical recurrence, a sacred holiday worth celebrating. Although we no longer worship heaven, people still exchange New Year's greetings with each other. However, they no longer hold wheat ears or incense.

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