Bronze script for character Trade (Liquor) is
The left side represents water, symbolizing wine. The right side depicts a bamboo wine dipper, which could also be used for soy sauce or vinegar. It looks like the picture below:
Each dipper had a specific volume, like one liang (Chinese weight unit, equal to 50 grams), three liang, five liang, etc. Shop assistants would dip the bamboo tube into a large wine vat, fill it with wine, lift it up, and pour it into the customer's bottle, roughly measuring the amount. These measuring tubes weren't very precise, and the ancient ones were even less accurate. Looking at the bronze script, the bottom represents the bamboo tube, the middle horizontal line indicates it's filled with wine (or soy sauce, or vinegar), and the top part with a small dot represents a hand holding the bamboo pole. "沽" means to dip and sell wine, and also mimics the sound of the bamboo tube immersed in wine.
Big seal script for character Trade (Liquor) is
Similar to the bronze script, but the small horizontal line inside the bamboo tube is missing, causing later misunderstandings. It now looks like the large seal script for "古," but it actually represents a bamboo wine dipper.
Small seal script for character Trade (Liquor) is
The left is character Water, the right is character Ancient. Why is character Ancient? I don't know.
Clerical script for character Trade (Liquor) is
Difficult to understand through pictograms alone. Water + 古 = ? The missing horizontal line in the bamboo tube led to the character resembling "古." However, from the bronze script, we know it represents a wine dipper, and "沽" means to sell wine with bamboo dipper.
Now let's look at the character Estimate -估.
The character "估" shares the same origin as "沽," meaning they were initially the same character. "沽" referred to a bamboo wine dipper, which was not standardized, leading to approximate measurements.
Big seal script for character Estimate -估 (from the Online Chinese Dictionary)
The left side is a single person, indicating estimation from people. The right is the bamboo dipper for the measurement of liquor.
Clerical script of character Estimate - 估
Now let's look at the character Make - 做.
The left is character Person, the middle is liquor dipper, the right is a hand (the lower part) handing a tool (the higher part).
Clerical script for character Make - 做
How do we understand "做"? Looking at "估 + reversed text = 做," the left side "估" is a wine dipper, and the right side reversed text implies holding a tool to create a wine dipper, signifying "making." Alternatively, if interpreted as a person + "故," where the left "古" (interpreted as elder) and right reversed text (hand holding a stick) suggest hitting an elder, this explanation seems violent and unsupported by historical evidence. Therefore, a more plausible explanation is that "古" means a wine dipper, "故" means making the dipper, and "做" refers to the person making the dipper, similar to the earlier explanation. The missing horizontal line in the big seal script for "沽" caused later misunderstandings and confusion.
This translation provides an insightful look into the historical and structural development of these Chinese characters, highlighting their evolution from shell bone script to clerical script.
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