Today, let’s take a look at 笑, xiào (laugh, smile, ridicule), one of my favorite characters.
To understand its structure, it is useful to look at the old spellings. is composed of two parts :
1.
2.
This new example shows that for some characters, it is essential to know their history, their original etymology in order to understand and better remember them. Indeed, 夭 has lost its original meaning and with the current meaning, it is difficult to find a relationship.
Note: the form of 夭 is often confused with that of 天,tiān, sky, day. The upper line of 天, tiān, is a horizontal line drawn from left to right, whereas for 夭, yāo, the line is descending from right to left:
天,tiān :
夭, yāo :
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30 October 2020