The WAY of CHINESE CHARACTERS

漢字之道

The ORIGINS of 670 ESSENTIAL WORDS

SECOND EDITION

JIANHSIN WU SAMPLEILLUSTRATED BY CHEN ZHENG AND CHEN TIAN

CHENG & TSUI BOSTON Copyright © 2016 by Cheng & Tsui Company, Inc.

Second Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning, or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

23 22 21 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Published by Cheng & Tsui Company, Inc. 25 West Street Boston, MA 02111-1213 USA Fax (617) 426-3669 www.cheng-tsui.com “Bringing Asia to the World”TM

ISBN 978-1-62291-046-5

Illustrated by Chen Zheng and Chen Tian

The Library of Congress has cataloged the first edition as follows:

Wu, Jian-hsin. The Way of Chinese characters : the origins of 400 essential words = [Han zi zhi dao] / by Jianhsin Wu ; illustrations by Chen Zheng and Chen Tian. p. cm. Parallel title in Chinese characters. ISBN 978-0-88727-527-2 1. Chinese characters. 2. Chinese language--Writing. I. Title. II. Title: Han zi zhi dao.

PL1171.W74 2007 808’.04951--dc22

2007062006

PrintedSAMPLE in the United States of America Photo Credits front cover ©Fotohunter/ShutterStock CONTENTS

Preface v

Basic Radicals 1

Numerals 17

Characters by Pinyin (A-Z) A - F 21 G - K 65 L - R 106 S - W 143 X - Z 180

Indexes CHARACTER INDEX by Integrated Chinese Lesson 227 CHARACTER INDEX by Pinyin 239 CHARACTER INDEX: TRADITIONAL by Stroke Count 251 CHARACTERSAMPLE INDEX: SIMPLIFIED by Stroke Count 263 ABOUT the AUTHOR

JIANHSIN WU received her Ph.D from the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at University of Wisconsin, Madison. A professor of Chinese at Pomona College since 1990, she concentrates her research on etymology, the pedagogy of teaching Chinese to heritage students, classical Chinese novels, and modern Chinese poetry.

SAMPLE

iv The Way of Chinese Characters PREFACE

Mastering characters is often the most challenging task for learners of Chinese. Unlike an alphabetical language with a writing system composed of a limited number of letters, the Chinese writing system is built upon about 200 radicals, which are the most basic components of Chinese characters. (Radicals, along with stroke counts, also provide the organizing principle for Chinese dictionaries.) Although there are over 50,000 Chinese characters, 2,500 characters are required for basic literacy. Further- more, the pronunciation of a particular character does not necessarily relate to its meaning. The sheer number of Chinese characters, in addition to the frequent lack of visual pronunciation guides, makes character memorization a significant challenge for many.

Paradoxically, this complexity is precisely what draws many people to learn Chinese. The presence of pictographic elements in Chinese characters is one of the unique and fascinating aspects of the language. Most radicals, for example, are pictographs, or visual representations of objects or concepts. Given a pictograph, learners can turn the character into a vivid picture, or associate the character with a shape, color, sound, smell, feeling, emotion, movement, or action. When using this method of employing pictographs as memory aids, students will find that learning Chinese characters can be enjoyable, and can provide valuable insight into Chinese culture.

We believe that each and every Chinese character is a crystallization of the wisdom and creativity of our ancient Chinese ancestors. When given the logical and historical origins of each character, as described in this book, learners can also remember characters in an efficient and intelligent manner, rather than mechanically reproducing strokes that may seem meaningless to them. Students can also acquire knowledge of Chinese history and culture while learning the origins and evolution of char- acters, as their pictographic features often reflect vivid aspects of ancient life, such as agricultural and domestic life, war, trade materials, crafts, rituals, etc.

After studyingThe Way of Chinese Characters, learners will understand pictographic forms, interpret the logic behind the meanings of characters, and know something about the ancient forms of the most commonly occurring characters.

WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION? The second edition ofThe Way of Chinese Characters includes over 220 more characters than the first edition. It now covers all the characters in both Part 1 and Part 2 of Integrated Chinese Level 1. The book has also been redesigned to be easier to read and carry, and reordered alphabetically by pinyin to make it easier to find characters. New example words and phrases have been added to each entry to help studentsSAMPLE learn how each character is used.

The Way of Chinese Characters v SELECTION AND PRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS The 670 characters included in this book are frequently used in modern Chinese, and cover all the characters in the glossary of Integrated Chinese, Level 1, Part 1 and Level 1, Part 2 (by Yuehua Liu, Tao-chung Yao, et. al.), the Chinese textbook most widely used at schools across the United States.

Explanations are given in both English and Chinese. The English entries are meant for beginning and intermediate students, while the Chinese entries may serve as references for teachers and advanced learners.

For each entry, we display the character in its various ancient scripts (see Types of Script below), and we include each character’s classification, which indicates how the character was constructed (see Types of Characters below). Most characters have illustrations that help readers instantly connect the characters’ pictographic elements to their meanings, both ancient and modern. Some characters are not accompanied by illustrations. Many of these are pictophonetic characters that have developed meanings largely unrelated to their visual aspects.

Also included are four indexes, organized alphabetically by pinyin, by Integrated Chinese lesson, and by stroke count (of both traditional and simplified characters), respectively. We hope all readers will find these indexes convenient and practical.

TYPES OF SCRIPT KEY TO SCRIPT TYPES 報 報 SYMBOL SCRIPT EXAMPLES ( ) SYMBOL SCRIPT EXAMPLES ( )

Oracle-Bone 甲 篆 Seal Script Inscriptions

Bronze 金 草 Cursive Script Inscriptions

The characters inThe Way of Chinese Characters are written in “Regular Script” (or traditional charac- ters) and simplified characters. Regular Script can be traced to the late Han Dynasty (207 b.c.–220 a.d.) and is still used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and many overseas Chinese communities. Simplified characters were introduced and promoted by the government of the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s, and have since remained the standard in mainland China.

In this book we focus on Regular Script, or traditional form, because we have found that it is often difficult for beginning learners to appreciate the visual flavor of simplified Chinese characters. We present the ancient forms of the characters and provide illustrations, so that students can identify characters’ original pictographic traits. We hope that with such imagery in mind, students will have a much easierSAMPLE time remembering Chinese characters.

This book also introduces other forms of Chinese script including “Oracle-Bone Inscriptions 甲骨文,” “Bronze Inscriptions 金文,” “Seal Script 篆文,” and “Cursive Script 草書.” “Oracle-Bone Inscriptions”

vi The Way of Chinese Characters come from carvings on ox bones or tortoise shells, which were used during the Shang Dynasty (ca.1600–ca.1100 b.c.) to record events and devise predictions. “Bronze Inscriptions” are found on bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (Zhou Dynasty: ca. 1100–ca. 221 b.c.). “Seal Script” includes both “Big Seal Script” and “Small Seal Script.” The former was used in the Qin State during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (ca. 770–ca. 221 b.c.) and the latter became official in the Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.). As an abbreviated form of traditional Chinese characters, “Cursive Script” originates from the Han Dynasty (207 b.c.–220 a.d.). These characters are written swiftly such that the strokes flow together, and were thus considered an artistic form of Chinese calligraphy. Many of the simpli- fied characters used in mainland China today were born out of this cursive style.

In the book, we display each character in its various forms: Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, Bronze Inscrip- tions, and Seal Script, alongside Regular Script and simplified forms. You will notice that some char- 她 您 acters are without ancient forms, however, such as (tā, she), (nín, polite form of the pronoun 啤 you), and (pí, beer), as these were created in later periods. Cursive Script is also shown for those simplified characters which were derived from the cursive style.

TYPES OF CHARACTERS Chinese characters are constructed differently from alphabetic languages. According to the Han dynasty scholar Xu Shen, in his Analysis and Explanation of Characters, they can be divided into six basic categories: pictographs (象形), explicit characters (指事), associative compounds (會意), pic- tophonetic characters (形聲), mutually explanatory characters (轉注), and phonetic loan characters (假借).

木 Pictographs delineate the shape of certain objects or their parts. Examples include: (mù, wood; 刀 女 馬 tree), (dāo, knife), (nǚ, woman), and (mǎ, horse). Although such characters are relatively easy to identify, the limitation of this particular category is that pictographs cannot convey more abstract meanings.

上 Explicit characters are simple diagrammatic indications of abstract ideas, such as (shàng, above), or 下 本 (xià, below). Others are formed with the addition of a symbol to an existing pictograph, such as 刃 (běn, root; basic), or (rèn, edge). Explicit characters constructed via this method comprise only a small proportion of all Chinese characters.

The meanings of associative compound characters are derived from their components, which may 明 日 combine two or more ideographs. Examples include (míng, bright, the combination of rì, sun and 月 森 木 yuè, moon), and (sēn, forest, the combination of three trees mù).

The majority of Chinese characters are pictophonetic, which combine semantic and phonetic com- 媽 女 馬 女 ponents.SAMPLE For instance, the character (mā, mother) consists of (nǚ, female) and (mǎ, horse). suggests the general meaning of the character while 馬 signals its pronunciation.

According to Xu Shen, mutually explanatory (or synonymous) characters refer to those that are of 老 the same or similar meanings, and thus can be used to define one another, e.g., (lǎo, old; aged) and

The Way of Chinese Characters vii 考 (kǎo, aged; long life; test). However, the exact meaning of this category is ambiguous. Some con- temporary scholars consider that the characters in this category actually refer to those later invented characters for recovering their original meanings. A common way to make this type of character is 蛇 to add radicals or other components to the original characters. The character (shé, snake) is an 它 example from this category. The character (tā) was a pictograph of a cobra-like snake and originally meant “snake”. Later 它 was borrowed to mean “other,” “it,” etc., and these meanings overwhelmed its original meaning. Therefore, a worm radical虫 was added to the left of它 to make a new character 蛇.

Phonetic loan characters refer to those that originally had no written form, and so borrowed existing characters of the same or similar pronunciation. For example, the character 我 resembles a weapon with a saw-toothed blade and long shaft, and originally referred to a kind of ancient weapon. Because the pronunciation of this character is similar to that of the pronoun “I,” 我 was borrowed to mean “I” or “me.”

USING THIS BOOK AS A TEACHING TOOL This book is the result of a serious, meticulous, and extensive study of the origins of Chinese charac- ters. Many of the books currently on the market on this topic offer learners imaginative, yet inaccurate pictorial representations of characters. While imagination can help learners remember Chinese char- acters, such historically groundless explanations may misinform them. This book’s academic, accurate, and straightforward explanations allow learners to study Chinese characters thoughtfully, but with- out the risk of becoming overwhelmed by overly detailed information on origin and evolution.

It is our belief that this book will provide teachers with a new, efficient, interesting, and scholarly way to teach Chinese characters to learners of Chinese, as well as learners of Japanese and Korean, whose writing systems employ Chinese characters.

The characters in this edition have been organized bypinyin for easy and universal reference, with separate sections for some Basic Radicals and numerals. New students of Chinese should first famil- iarize themselves with these radicals and numerals, as they will make learning more complex characters easier. Multiple indexes have been provided to help students and teachers look up specific characters.

USING THIS BOOK WITH INTEGRATED CHINESE The Way of Chinese Characters contains all the characters taught in Integrated Chinese Level 1 Part 1 and Level 1 Part 2. Students of Integrated Chinese should use the “Character Index by Integrated Chinese Lesson” to easily find each character grouped by lesson as they proceed through the course.

It is our expectation that this book will benefit all learners of Chinese characters, especially those who have difficultySAMPLE memorizing numerous characters. In short, we hope that readingThe Way of Chinese Characters helps learners overcome the obstacles to memorizing Chinese characters in an academically sound and creatively engaging way.

Jianhsin Wu viii The Way of Chinese Characters BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gu, Yankui 谷衍奎, ed. Hanzi yuanliu zidian《漢字源流字典》. Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe, 2003.

Hanyu dazidian bianji weiyuanhui 漢語大字典編輯委員會, ed. Hanyu dacidian 《漢語大字典》. Chengdu: Sichuan cishu chubanshe & Hubei cishu chubanshe, 1993.

Jiang, Lansheng 江藍生 and Zunwu Lu 陸尊梧, eds. Jianhuazi fantizi duizhao zidian 《簡化字繁體字對 照字典》. Shanghai: Hanyu dacidian chubanshe, 2004.

Jiang, Shanguo 蔣善國. Hanzixue 《漢字學》. Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe, 1987.

Liu, Yuehua 劉月華 and Yao, Tao-chung 姚道中, et. al. Integrated Chinese 《中文聽説讀寫》, Level 1, Part 1 Textbook. 3rd ed. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, 2009.

Liu, Yuehua 劉月華 and Yao, Tao-chung 姚道中, et. al. Integrated Chinese 《中文聽説讀寫》, Level 1, Part 2 Textbook. 3rd ed. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, 2009.

Rong, Geng 容庚, ed. Jinwen bian 《金文編》. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985.

Shi, Dingguo 史定國, et al., eds. Jianhuazi yanjiu 《簡化字研究》. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2004.

Wan, Zhiwen 宛志文, et al., eds. Gujin hanyu changyong zidian 《古今漢語常用字典》. Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 2002.

Weng, Zhifei 翁志飛, et al., eds. Xinbian caoshu zidian 《新編草書字典》. Hangzhou: Zhejiang guji chubanshe, 2005.

Xie, Guanghui 謝光輝, et al., eds. Hanyu ziyuan zidian 《漢語字源字典》. Beijing: Beijing daxue chu- banshe, 2002.

Xu, Shen [漢] 許慎. Shuowen jiezi 《說文解字》. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1978.

Xu, Shen. Preface to Analysis and Explanation of Characters in Zang, Kehe 臧克和 and Ping Wang 王平, ed. Shuowen jiezi xinding 《說文解字新訂》. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2002.

Xu, Zhongshu 徐中舒, et al., eds. Hanyu guwenzi zixingbiao 《漢語古文字字形表》. Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1981.

徐中舒 《甲骨文字典》 Xu, Zhongshu , et al., eds. Jiaguwen zidian . Chengdu: Sichuan cishu chuban- she, 1998. Zhang,SAMPLE Shuyan 張書岩, et al., eds. Jianhuazi suyuan 《簡化字溯源》. Beijing: Yuwen chubanshe, 2005.

The Way of Chinese Characters ix BASIC RADICALS

RADICALS are components of Chinese characters which often indicate the character’s meaning. They are useful to know not only because they can provide clues to the meanings of characters, but also because many Chinese dictionaries are organized by radicals. Most radicals are common characters (often pictographs) and can be used on their own in addition to being components in more complicated characters like associative compounds and pictophonetic characters. When used as components, radicals may appear in variant forms. For example, 心 (heart) may appear as 心 or 忄 in compound characters.

See the “Types of Script” section on page vi of the Preface for more information about the different scripts.

PICTOGRAPH In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze 人 象形。甲骨文、金文 Inscriptions, the character 人 presents the profile of 像人側立之形。 人 a person with a head, an arched back, arms and legs, possibly indicating a figure from an early stage of human evolution. In Regular Script, 人 looks like someone rén 人 man; person with two rather long legs. As a radical, often appears as 亻, and is often used in characters related to human 你 他 beings and their activities, e.g., (nǐ, you), (tā, he; 住 休 him), (zhù, to live), and (xiū, to rest).

人民 人們 rénmín the people rénmen people; the public 客人 病人 甲 金 篆 kèrén visitor; guest; customer bìngrén sick person; patient

PICTOGRAPH In ancient writing systems, the character 刀 象形。像刀形。上像 刀 resembles a knife, with the upper part as the handle 刀柄，下像刀刃及刀背。 刀 and the lower part as the edge. In Regular Script, the handle is shortened so that it becomes almost unnoticeable. Characters with the knife radical刂 dāo knife usually have something to do with knives or cutting, 別 刺 利 such as (bié, to separate), (cì, to stab), and SAMPLE(lì, sharp).

刀子 刀刃 dāozi knife dāorèn knife blade 剪刀 開刀 甲 篆 jiǎndāo scissors kāidāo to perform or have an operation

The Way of Chinese Characters 1 PICTOGRAPH In both the Oracle-Bone and Bronze 力 象形。甲骨文、金文 Inscriptions, the character 力 resembles an ancient 均像耕田用具。因耕田 力 plow, with the upper part as the handle and the lower 要有力，引申為力氣。 part as the plowshare. Since plowing requires great physical strength, 力 means “strength.” In Regular lì 力 刀 power; strength Script, is similar in form to (dāo, knife) except that its top sticks out.

力氣 能力 lìqi strength nénglì capability; ability 精力 有力 甲 金 篆 jīnglì energy yǒulì strong; powerful; vigorous

PICTOGRAPH In its ancient form, the character 又 was 又 象形。甲骨文像右手 shaped like a right hand, meaning “right hand.” Today 形。 又 又 is used to mean “again,” “also,” “in addition,” “both… and…,” etc. yòu right hand; again

又及 又名 yòují P.S.; postscript yòumíng a.k.a.; alternative name 甲 金 篆 又… 又… yòu… yòu… both… and…

PICTOGRAPH The character 口 looks like an open 口 象形。像人口形狀。 mouth. Characters with the mouth radical are often 口 associated with the movement of the mouth, e.g., 吃 喝 唱 (chī, to eat), (hē, to drink), (chàng, to sing), and 叫 ( , to shout). kǒu jiào mouth; entranceSAMPLE

口紅 口語 kǒuhóng lipstick kǒuyǔ spoken language; vernacular language 甲 金 篆 門口 人口 ménkǒu doorway rénkǒu population

2 The Way of Chinese Characters RADICALS 3 morning and night; and morning all time the eve; before day the

potato country’s territory; national land territory; land national country’s

夕 象形。像半個月亮， 傍晚或夜晚之意。 囗 象形。像環圍形。從 囗的字多有外圍或邊界。 土 象形。像一土塊狀， 下方 “一”字意指大 地。 qiánxī zhāoxī guótǔ tǔdòu

夕 朝夕 前夕 國土 土豆 , map). Note that that Note , map). , country; state), tú , mouth), indicating indicating , mouth), (gúo kǒu

In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, the the Inscriptions, Oracle-Bone the In In its ancient forms, the character character the forms, ancient its In sunset; the setting sun sun setting the sunset; represents the periphery or border of periphery border the or represents 囗 land; soil rustic; unsophisticated lunar New Year’s Eve Eve Year’s New lunar

, garden;图 ( 圖/ park),

tǔdì tǔqì húxī yuán

c xīyáng

土地 土氣 除夕 夕陽 PICTOGRAPH PICTOGRAPH PICTOGRAPH PICTOGRAPH an area. Characters relating to boundaries often include include often boundaries to relating area.an Characters radical as 囗, such 國/国 the 園/园 ( represents a small hill or mound of soil, hill a small mound or part of 土 represents upper Regular In ground. the for line stands bottom while the mound. the replaces a cross Script, a large area that can contain many objects. many contain can a large that area is larger than the radical 口 ( the 囗 is larger than PICTOGRAPH PICTOGRAPH resembles a half moon, meaning “sunset,” “dusk,” “dusk,” “sunset,” moon, a half meaning resembles be moon seencan the Sometimes “night.” or “evening,” dusk. east at the from rising 篆 SAMPLE 篆

金 金

土 囗 夕 earth; soil tǔ enclose wéi 甲 xī sunset; evening 篆 甲 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOGRAPH In the ancient writing systems, the 大 象形。像正面人形。 character 大 portrays a figure standing with arms 天地萬物中以人為大為 大 stretching out and legs spread apart. This posture seems 貴，故用人形來表示大。 to suggest that humans are the greatest creatures on earth. The primary meanings of 大 are “big,” “large,” dà big; great “great,” “age,” and “older.”

大人 大學 dàren adult; grown-up dàxué college; university 甲 金 篆 大家 長大 dàjiā all; everyone zhǎngdà grow up

PICTOGRAPH In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, the 女 象形。甲骨文像女子 character 女 depicts a woman kneeling with her arms 俯首，雙臂交叉下跪形。 女 lowered and hands clasped on her lap, reflecting the lower social status of women in ancient times. In later forms, the kneeling component is transformed as nǚ female; women are recognized as having a status more equal to woman men. The Regular Script forms of 女 and 大 are similar, but 女 emphasizes the female bosom.

女人 女兒 nüˇrén woman nüˇ’ér daughter 甲 金 金 女生 女士 nüˇshēng female student; girl nüˇshì lady; madam

PICTOGRAPH In its ancient form, the character 子 子 象形。像頭部突出、 shows a baby swaddled in cloth, with its head sticking 手臂在外、裹在襁褓中 子 up and arms stretching out. In Regular Script, the head 的嬰兒。 of the baby is represented by a horizontal hook instead of a round shape. 子 is used as suffix after some nouns, zǐ 桌子 椅子 baby; child SAMPLEsuch as , etc.

孩子 兒子 háizi child érzi son 甲 金 篆 房子 餃子 fángzi house; building jiaˇozi dumpling; pot-sticker

4 The Way of Chinese Characters RADICALS 5 a person’s pulse on the wrist wrist pulse the on a person’s elementary/primary schoolelementary/primary

Miss; young lady Miss;young

工 象形。像工匠用的曲 尺。 寸 指事。從又，從 一。“又”為右手， “一”指手後一寸之處。 中醫所言寸口。 小 會意。甲骨文及金文 作三點，像細小的沙粒 形，表示微小的意思。 ˇu engineering; engineering project

ˇoxué ˇojie cùnko worker xia xia

又 寸口 小學 小姐 gōngrén gōngchéng

combines combines

工程 工人 consists of three of three consists

小 unable to move a single step (idiom) a single move step to unable

In the Oracle-Bone and and Oracle-Bone the In in one’s childhood one’s in In Seal 寸 Script, In

child; kid; kiddy to work;to job

tool

In the ancient writing systems, the the systems, writing ancient the In size; dimension; measurement size; dimension; measurement

cùnbù nánxíng ˇoháir ˇo shíhou

looks like a carpenter’s square or ruler. The ruler. or square 工 looks a carpenter’s like xia xia indicates the the while 一 indicates hand” “right 又 means gōngjù gōngzuò

chǐcùn

一. 工作 工具

小時候 小孩兒 PICTOGRAPH PICTOGRAPH ASSOCIATIVE ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND EXPLICIT EXPLICIT CHARACTER with with dots, like three tiny grains of sand. In its later forms, 小 forms, later its grains of sand. In tiny three like dots, hook in vertical the by (represented a knife resembles pieces. two smaller into something middle)the cutting Bronze Inscriptions, the character character the Inscriptions, Bronze character character which derived from “tool,” of 工 was original meaning “craftsmanship,” “skill,” “labor,” meaningsthe “work,” project.” “construction and 尺寸 寸步難行 section of the forearm one inch from the wrist, where a a where wrist, the from inch one forearm of the section pulse feelwould doctor patient’s a Chinese traditional diagnoseand ailments.

篆 SAMPLE 篆

金 金

工 小 寸 gōng tool; work; labor small xiǎo inch cùn 甲 甲 篆 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOGRAPH In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze 幺 象形。像一小把 Inscriptions, the character 幺 represents a wisp of silk. 細丝。甲骨文幺、糸 幺 Since a wisp is a small quantity, 幺 extends to mean （ ）、絲为同源字。 mì “small,” “tiny,” or “youngest.” 糸、絲都像絲束形，不 yāo 同的是糸為一束絲， 絲 tiny; small 為兩束絲。系( ) 字在 xì 甲骨文中為一隻手握兩 束絲。

幺 yāo one (spoken form when spelling out numbers, esp. on telephone) 甲 金 篆 老幺 laˇoyāo youngest

PICTOGRAPH In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, the 弓 象形。甲骨文像有弓 character 弓 resembles an entire bow. In the Bronze 弦弓背的完整弓形。金 弓 Inscription form, 弓 depicts a bow without its string, 文簡化。 which is how a bow should be stored. Just like human beings, bows need time for relaxation! gōng bow

弓箭 彈弓 甲 金 篆 gōngjiàn bow and arrow dàn’gōng catapult; slingshot

PICTOGRAPH In its ancient forms, the character 心 心 象形。像人的心臟。 represents a heart. There are two forms of the heart 心 radical, 心 and 忄. 心 is usually positioned at the bottom 想 愁 of a character as in (xiaˇng, to think) and (chóu, to 忄 忙 worry), while is on the left, as in (máng, busy) and xīn 怕 heart (pà, fear). Characters with heart radicals are often SAMPLEassociated with feelings or other mental activities.

心理 關心 xīnlǐ psychology; mentality guānxīn care for; be concerned with 甲 金 篆 擔心 心情 dānxīn worry; to be anxious xīnqíng mood; state of mind

6 The Way of Chinese Characters NUMERALS 17 four seasons four

sìjì

四季 四 假借。在甲骨文中 是四横。金文“四”像 臉部的口鼻。本義為喘 息，是呬的本字，因讀 音相近而借用為四字。 一 二 三 指事。以一至 三画表示數字一到三， 是原始的計數符號。 - - - NUMERALS in allin directions; all around; near far and

sandwich

idiot; person stupid

a little; a bit triangle triangle

the four directions; all four sides the

straight forward;straight always continuously; two-stringed Chinese instrument In the Bronze Inscrip Bronze the In sìmiàn bāfāng

yīdiǎr èrbǎi wǔ sānmíngzhì

sìfāng yìzhí èrhú sānjiǎo In Chinese writing systems, systems, writing Chinese In

一點兒 四方 四面八方 一直 三角 二胡 二百五 三明治

came to mean the numeral “four.” In the Ora the In “four.” numeral the mean to 四 came

PHONETIC LOAN CHARACTER PHONETIC LOAN EXPLICIT CHARACTERS EXPLICIT cle-Bone inscriptions, “four” was represented by four four by represented was “four” inscriptions, cle-Bone 四. replaced by was character this lines, but horizontal one horizontal stroke represents the number one, two one, number the represents stroke horizontal one two,three and number the for stand strokes horizontal 一，二，三 are proba three. number the for strokes bly the easiest Chinese characters to remember. From From remember. to characters easiest Chinese bly the not have characters three these now, until times ancient changed much. a sillywho about beganboy Chinese joke a is There the learned boy After numerals. learn to 一，二， able he was to his he told father his teacher, 三 from very was day One proud. father His number. any write to thousand” “ten number the write hishe asked to son halfday, a for his guests.show worked remained The boy task.the the finish to When guests unable still was but they all were laughed. paper wrote, he the On what saw larger fact, numbers In strokes! of horizontal thousands pattern. a different in expressed are three than resembles a big nose, or nostrils a big nostrils nose, or 四 resembles character the tions, “pant.” or “gasp” originally it meant a face.on Therefore Later

篆 篆 篆 篆 SAMPLE

金 金 金 金

四 二 一 三 sì four two èr yī one sān three 甲 甲 甲 甲 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The EXPLICIT CHARACTER In the Neolithic signs around 五 指事。在西安半坡仰 4,000 b.c., the symbol “X” was used to indicate “five.” 韶文化遺址出土的陶器 五 In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze Inscriptions, a line was 上，X即五。 甲骨文、金 added above and below the X. In Regular Script, the 文在X上下各加一橫。 middle part of 五 resembles a cross that corners at its wǔ five right end.

五官 鼻目口舌耳 wǔguān five sense organs (nose, eyes, lips, tongue, ears ); facial features 甲 金 篆 五行 木火土金水 wǔxíng five elements of Chinese philosophy (wood, fire, earth, metal, water )

PHONETIC LOAN CHARACTER In the Oracle-Bone and 六 假借。在甲骨文、 Bronze Inscriptions, the character 六 outlines a hut or 金文中為茅棚狀，本義 六 shed, possibly some sort of prehistoric dwelling. Later, 為廬。由於讀音相近的 六 came to indicate the number six. In Regular Script, 關係，借用為六字。 六 still resembles a simple house, with the roof on top liù six and two pillars beneath.

六百 六萬 liùbǎi six hundred liùwàn 60,000 六千 六億 甲 金 篆 liùqiān 6,000 liùyì 600,000,000

EXPLICIT CHARACTER In the Neolithic, Oracle-Bone, 七 指事。在半坡陶器上 and Bronze Inscriptions, 十 represented the number 以及甲骨文、金文中， 七 seven. However, in Seal Script, 十 was used to mean 十的意思皆是七。小篆 十 “ten” and the vertical line of was bent to mean 將十的意思改為十，而 “seven.” In Regular Script, you may still see similarities qī 將十的一竪彎曲，另造 between 十 ( , ten) and 七 ( , seven), as 七 looks like seven shí qī 七字，以區別于十。 SAMPLE十 with a tail.

十七 七嘴八舌 shíqī seventeen qīzuǐ bāshé “With seven mouths and eight tongues;” 七十 甲 金 篆 qīshí seventy lively discussion with many talking at once

18 The Way of Chinese Characters NUMERALS 19 crossroads; intersection crossroads;

屁股）的初文。 cross; crucifixcross;

kāo September eight hundred ninety

shízì lùkǒu eighth

後借為數目字。 十 指事。在半坡陶器 上，十字為一竪畫，甲 骨文同。金文中間加一 點，篆文又由一點延長為 一橫。一説在一根繩上 打一個結表示一个十。 假借。甲骨文中用兩 八 劃來表示將一物分開， 是分字的初文，後借用 為數字。 假借。甲骨文像是獸 九 類臀部上長出的尾巴，是 尻（ shízì jià

dìbā bābǎi jiǔshí jiǔyuè

十字架 十字路口 第八 八百 九十 九月 looks like the pos - 九 looks the like In the Oracle-Bone and and Oracle-Bone the In suggests 八 character The perfect every in way

nineteen nineteen eighteen eighty In the Neolithic signs, as Neolithic well as the In ninth

dìjiǔ shíjiǔ shíbā bāshí very; extremely

shíquán shíměi

八十 十九 第九 十八 shífēn

EXPLICIT CHARACTER EXPLICIT PHONETIC LOAN CHARACTER PHONETIC LOAN PHONETIC LOAN CHARACTER PHONETIC LOAN Bronze Inscriptions, the character character the Inscriptions, Bronze terior of an animal with a long tail, possibly a monkey. tail, a long possibly a monkey. with animal of an terior “behind” of 九 was original meaning the or Hence, nine. number the mean to 九 came Later “buttocks.” is the act of dividing something into parts. Originally into something dividing of act the is separate.” “to or divide” did“to mean character the eight. numeral the mean to 八 came Later 十分 十全十美 in the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, one vertical line stoodline vertical one Inscriptions, Oracle-Bone the in the In thirty. for two twenty three lines for and ten, for addedwas dot the in a circular Inscriptions, Bronze Seal in dot this Script, line. Later, middle vertical of the “ten” for character the making line, becamehorizontal a a cross. look like

篆 SAMPLE 篆

篆

金 金 金

十 九 八

shí ten nine jiǔ eight bā 甲 甲 甲 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone Inscrip- 百 會意。一說甲骨文字 tions, the upper part of 百 may represent a ruler and the 形上像一把尺子，下像白 百 lower part a grain of white rice 白, suggesting a long line 米粒，表示擺下一尺長 百 of rice grains. Meanings of are “hundred,” “numer- 的米粒，引申為一百。 ous,” and “all kinds of.” bǎi 白，象形。像一粒白米 hundred

幾百 百姓 jǐbǎi several hundred; how many hundred bǎixìng ordinary people 百貨公司 二百 甲 金 篆 bǎihuò gōngsī department store èrbǎi two hundred

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In its ancient forms, the top 千 會意。甲骨文從十， part of 千 is a person 人 and the bottom part a ten 十, 從人。人壽以一百嵗為 千 implying that the maximal life span of ten persons is 限，十人壽限加起便是 千 1000 years. The primary meaning of is “thousand” 千。本義為千，引申義 and its extended meanings are “many,” “numerous,” etc. qiān 為很多、無數。 thousand

千萬 qiānwàn ten million; millions and millions; to be sure 成千上萬 甲 金 篆 chéngqiān shàngwàn thousands upon thousands

Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches In addition to these numerals, the Chinese also traditionally used two sets of numbers to count up to sixty: ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. Together, they were used to count years, months, days, and hours. Today, the heavenly stems still often appear as ordinal numbers, choices in multiple choice questions, or as abbreviations of parties in legal documents (Party A, Party B, etc.). Many also commonly appear as components in more complex characters.

TEN HEAVENLY STEMS 甲 乙 丙 丁 戊 己 庚 辛 壬 癸 jiǎ yǐ SAMPLEbǐng dīng wù jǐ gēng xīn rén guǐ

TWELVE EARTHLY BRANCHES 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥

zǐ chǒu yín mǎo chén sì wǔ wèi shēn yǒu xū hài

20 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F

21 ) 報

information.

(A–Z) more

EXAMPLES ( for

，如阿毛， ā 。引申義有山水 )。丂，气欲舒出 ē Preface

kǎo the Script

Script of

vi SCRIPT

Arab; Arabic 狀。以口中舒气以示認 可、同意等。 的彎曲之處、角落、屈從 迎合、阿諛奉承等。作 為人名與親屬稱謂的前 綴时讀作 阿爸、阿姨。可，從口， 從丂( 啊 形聲。從口，阿聲。 用作嘆詞。阿，形聲。 阿 形聲。從阜（左阝）， 可聲。本義為大土山， 音讀作 金文從阜（腳坑；土山）， 可聲，本義為山的彎曲 處。 Seal

Cursive interjection of surprise or pain or of surprise interjection page

by PINYIN ālābó on

āyo and and 啊喲 阿拉伯 section

), meaning ), meaning , it functions , it functions kě ā 篆 草 contains the the 阿 contains Script"

SYMBOL ). of

The character 阿 The character ā/ē The character 啊 is used The character ), originally referring to “a “a to ), originally referring "Types

kě ) the

報 See and the phonetic 可 ( phonetic the and ) is made up of the mound radical 阝 mound the of up is made ) ē resembles a mouth exhaling and means means and exhaling a mouth 可 resembles interjection of surprise interjection aunt; nursemaid nursemaid aunt;

EXAMPLES (

āyā āyí

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC “large mound.” “large (pronounced 啊呀 阿姨 big mound.” Its extended meanings are “riverbank,” “the “the meanings “riverbank,” extended are Its big mound.” to,” up play “to to,” pander “to “be bent,” edge,” or corner 阿 is pronounced When etc. “graceful,” as an exclamation, and consists of the mouth radical 口 mouth of the consists and as exclamation, an 阿 ( component phonetic the and as a prefix to a monosyllabic name or a kinship term term kinship or a name a monosyllabicto as a prefix Oracle-Bone the In familiarity. indicate to of address Inscriptions, “but.” and “can,” “may,” “okay,” approve,” “to mound radical 阝 mound the phonetic element 可 ( element phonetic the Inscriptions

SCRIPT Inscriptions SAMPLE Oracle-Bone Bronze CHARACTERS 篆 啊 阿 金 甲 SYMBOL a (exclamation particle) (a prefix) ē big mound ā 金 KEY TO TYPES TO SCRIPT KEY The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 哎 哎 形聲。從口，艾聲， combines the mouth radical 口 and the phonetic 是後起字。用做嘆詞， 艾 哎 indicator (ài) and functions as an interjection to 表示傷感、嘆息或提醒、 express surprise, dissatisfaction, regret, greeting, or to 打招呼、呼應等。哎呀 draw attention. 艾 is Chinese mugwort or wormwood. āi 用來表示驚訝，哎喲表 (exclamatory The dried leaves of mugwort can be made into moxa cones (a cylinder of cotton wool or other combustible 示驚訝、痛苦。艾，形 particle) 聲。從艹，乂( )聲， material) and used in moxibustion (a traditional yì treatment of Chinese medicine in which moxa cones 本義指艾草，曬乾后可 are placed on the skin and ignited in order to treat 制成艾絨用作灸療。 disease or produce analgesia).

哎呀 哎喲 āiyā ah!; Oh, my! āiyō ouch; whoops

ASSOCIATIVE AND PICTOPHONETIC COMPOUND In the 愛 會意兼形聲。篆文上 Seal Script, the top part of 愛 is both the phonetic and 部標聲兼表意( ),下 ài, love 愛/爱 signifying component (pronounced ài, meaning “love”) 部從夊( 腳)，表示心 夊 suī and the bottom part is the signifying element ( suī, 有所愛而腳下徘徊不忍 walk back and forth; hover). It seems a man is falling ài 離去，有慈愛、情愛、 love; to love deeply in love with a woman, hovering around her house and being reluctant to leave. The simplified character 爱 喜愛等意。爱是愛字的 derives from the cursive style of the traditional form 愛. 草書楷化字，去掉愛字 中間的心字而將夊字改 為友。

愛人 愛好 àirén spouse (PRC); lover (non-PRC) àihào hobby 可愛 親愛的 篆 草 kě’ài cute; lovely qīn’àide dear; beloved; darling

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND The character 安 consists 安 會意。從女，從宀， of the roof radical 宀 on top and the woman 女 表示一女在房中。本義 安 underneath, suggesting when there is no war or natural 為安靜、安寧，引申義 calamity, women can stay home peacefully and life 有安定、安全、舒適、 is safe and tranquil. Hence, 安 means “tranquil,” ān 感到滿足、使安定、安 calm; safe “peaceful,” “quiet,” “calm,” “stable,” “safe,” “secure,” “at ease,” “content,” “satisfied,” “to pacify,” “to stabilize,” “to 置、安裝等。 SAMPLEsettle down,” and “to install.”

安靜 平安 ānjìng quiet píngān safe and sound 安心 晚安 甲 金 篆 ānxīn to feel at ease wǎn’ān Good night!

22 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 23 dad and mom and dad

(dialect) father

bàmā ābà a chair

爸媽 阿爸 yǐzi

Internet café Internet 吧 象聲詞、語氣詞。 巴，象形。篆文像嘴大 能吞象的蛇形。本義為 蛇，引申為依附、靠近、 巴結等。 把 形聲。從扌，巴聲。 本義為以手握持。引申義 有把守控制、東西的柄， 也用於能以一手所握的東 西（一把米），以及能以 一隻手握持的一些東西的 量詞（一把刀）。另外， 把也作為介詞引出動作受 事的對象，使賓語前置。 巴，象形。篆文像一條張 著大嘴的蛇。 爸 形聲。從父、巴聲。 父，象形。甲骨文、金 文字形像手持石斧工作 狀。巴，象形。篆文中像 一條張著大嘴的蛇。本 義為蛇，引申為依附、 靠近、巴結等。

torch let’s go let’s

yìbǎ zǒuba wǎngbā huǒbǎ 一把椅子 網吧 走吧 火把 can be吧 can used biological father ). (informal) father

bā is made 把 is made The character is made 爸 The character has the mouth radical mouth the 吧 has bàba qīnbà , father) and the phonetic 巴 phonetic the and , father) 親爸 爸爸 fù a knife

knob alright; fine dāo

bar; pub

yìbǎ hǎoba jiǔbā bǎshǒu delineates a hand a hand 父 delineates form, ancient its In to). , cling 巴 篆 bā

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC 酒吧 and the phonetic element 巴 ( element phonetic the 口 and 好吧 and the phonetic element element phonetic radical the 扌and hand of the up “a hold of,” take “to hold,” “to grasp,” “to 巴, meaning be word 把 can used as a measure "handful.” or handle,” hand. one be handled with can held or objectsfor that as a direct before object, particle a also functions It Seal 巴 looks Script like In verb. followed a transitive by of 巴 original The a large meaning mouth. with a snake “to or to” cling “to mean to it came Later “snake.” was body its clingsmoves, always a snake when for to,” stick something.to radical 父 ( of the up as a question indicator, onomatopoeic word, or particle particle or word, onomatopoeic indicator, asquestion a Seal a 巴 resembles a suggestion. Script, In making for meanings of Today’s large,a mouth. open with snake such of a snake, characteristics the to related still 巴 are anxiously” (as “wait snake and a to,” “stick to,” as“cling prey). for waiting 一把刀 holding a stone ax—an important tool and weapon in in tool weapon and important ax—an a stone holding Seal 巴 looks a snake Script like In society. primitive a large mouth. with ( 把手

篆 SAMPLE 金

巴 篆

吧 爸 把 ba (sentence- particle) ending father; dad bà (MW for objects for (MW handles) with bǎ 巴 篆 父 甲 篆 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOGRAPH In its ancient form, 白 resembles bright 白 象形。像太陽初升、 rays spreading out from the sun, or as some scholars 光芒四射狀。一説像一 白 say, a grain of white rice. The original meaning of 白 is 粒白米。 “white.” Extended meanings include “pure,” “clear,” and “in vain.” bái  white; (surname)

白天 白色 báitiān daytime; day báisè white color 白人 白菜 甲 金 篆 báirén white people; caucasian báicài Chinese cabbage; bok choi

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In its ancient forms, the 班 會意。金文中間是 character 班 looks like two pieces of jade with a knife 刀，左右為兩塊玉 班 in between. The original meaning of 班 was “to divide （玨），指以刀將玉一 a jade stone into two,” from which the meanings “to 分為二。本義為分割玉 distribute,” “class,” “group,” “work shift,” and “schedule bān 石，引申為分工作或學 (of flights, bus, etc.)” have derived. class 習的班組，按時間分成 的工作時段，定時開行 的班車、航班等。

三班 中文班 sānbān Class Three zhōngwén bān Chinese class 金 篆 上班 班機 shàngbān to go to work bānjī a scheduled flight

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 搬 consists 搬 形聲。從扌，般聲。 of the hand radical 扌and the phonetic element 般 意指搬動、搬運，引申義 搬 (bān), meaning “to move,” “to take away,” or “to copy 有套用等。般，會意。從 般 舟 mechanically.” is made up of (zhōu, boat) and 舟，從殳，本義為用篙 殳 ( , a type of ancient weapon made of bamboo), bān shū 使舟旋轉，後借指樣、 to move suggesting the act of using a boat-pole to change the direction a boat is taking. Originally 般 meant “to 種、相同。舟，象形， rotate,” and has been borrowed to mean “sort,” “type,” or 古文字中像船形。殳 舟 ( )，會意。古文字中像 “the same as.” In its ancient forms, is the pictograph shū SAMPLEof a boat and 殳 a hand holding a weapon. 手持一兵器，本義為古代 一種竹製的兵器。如今 不單用，只作為偏旁。

搬家 搬桌子 bān jiā to resettle, to move (house) bān zhuōzi to move a table 篆 舟 甲 金 篆 搬運 搬運工 bānyùn to transport; to carry bānyùngōng porter

24 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 25 office

what’s to be to done? what’s salad

cài

to stir; to agitate stir; to to

剖分、爭辯) 聲。 bàngōngshì zěnmebàn liángbàn biàn half a year half 辛，象形。甲骨文、金 文像在犯人臉上刺字的 刑具。簡體字办用一撇 一點代替兩個辛字，舊 時已見。 辦 形聲。從力，辡 ( 半 會意。上從八（分 開），下從牛。表示將 牛從中切為兩半，意為 事物的二分之一。 拌 形聲。從手，半聲。 是後起字。本義為攪拌、 攙和，引申義有爭吵等。 半， 會意。金文、篆文 上從八（分開），下從 牛。表示將牛從中切為 兩半，意為事物的二分 之一。

jiǎobàn half

辦公室 怎麽辦 涼拌菜 搅拌 bànnián yíbàn , divide; 半年 一半 bā , power) and and , power) lì The character 辦 The character , to debate), meaning meaning debate), , to , divide; eight) 牛 and consists consists 拌 The character bā In its ancient form, the the form, ancient its In biàn to work (esp. in an office an ) in (esp. work to

, ox) underneath, indicating indicating underneath, , ox) ) is “to mix mouths” and and mix mouths” ) is “to cold noodles sauce with means; method

, half 八 ( ) contains niú

half a month half bàn ). In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze Bronze and Oracle-Bone the ). In

miàn bànzuǐ

bàngōng bànfǎ xīn half a day

to quarrel

is a pictograph of a chiseled instrument 辛 is a pictograph of a chiseled instrument 辦公 辦法 拌嘴 ( consists of 八 ( 半 consists liángbàn bàngeyuè loses one stroke on on stroke 牛 loses one and down 八 is upside loses one stroke on on stroke 牛 loses one and down 八 is upside

bànzuǐ bàntiān ), indicating the act of mixing things with hands. hands. things act of mixing with the ), indicating , ox), indicating cutting an ox in half. In the Oracle- the In half. in ox an cutting indicating , ox), are “pungent,” “laborious,” “suffering,” and “hot and “suffering,” “laborious,” “pungent,” 辛 are bàn niú PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE 半 element phonetic radical the 扌and hand of the ( 涼拌面 eight) on top and 牛 ( and eight) top on 半天 Inscriptions, Inscriptions, meanings Extended faces of prisoners. the used tattoo to of two 办 uses short character simplified (in flavor).”The 辦. form traditional two 辛 of the the replace to strokes consists of the signifying of the 力 ( consists element the phonetic element 辡 ( element phonetic the 拌嘴 depicts the front front the 牛 depicts character the Bone Inscriptions, 半 in Regular character the head. In ox’s view of an Script, left. the therefore means “to wrangle” or “to quarrel.” In its its In quarrel.” “to or wrangle” “to means therefore 半 ( forms, ancient 半個月 cutting an ox into halves. In the character 半 in Regular character the In halves. into ox an cutting Script, left. the “handle,” “manage,” “do,” or “punish.” You can memorize memorize can You “punish.” or “do,” “manage,” “handle,” split to imagining "managing" by a person character this 辡 is made strength. all two in their using something of two 辛 ( up Literally character character ( 篆 SAMPLE 金 篆 辛甲

拌 半 辦/办 bàn to manage to mixto bàn half bàn 篆 金 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 幫 consists 幫 形聲。從帛，封聲。 帛 of the signifying element (bó, silk) and the phonetic 本義為鞋幫，引申為輔助 封 幫 幫/帮 (fēng, seal). The original meaning of was “the 等意。封，會意。甲骨文 upper part of a shoe” while extended meanings include 像在土堆上植樹，以此來 “side” (of a boat, cart, etc.), “assist,” and “help.” The bāng 帛 白 巾 劃定邊界。帛，從巾，從 to help character combines (bái, white) and (jīn, pictograph of a scarf ), referring to un-dyed silk. In 白；本義指素白絲織物， 封 土 引申為絲織品的總稱。 Regular Script, is comprised of two (tǔ, soil) and 寸 幚 幫 one (cùn, inch). is a variant of , and the middle 巾，象形。像垂下的佩 part 白 was deleted from 幚 to form the simplified 帮. 巾。繁體字幫的另一寫法 是幚。簡體字帮去掉了幚 字中間的白字。

幫助 幫忙 bāngzhù to help; aid bāngmáng to help; to do a favor 幫手 幫派 bāngshǒu helper bāngpài faction

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 棒 is 棒 形聲。從木，奉聲。 comprised of the wood radical 木 and the phonetic 本義為棍子，引申義有健 奉 棒 (fèng), originally meaning “a stick” or “a club.” 壯、能力強、水平高等。 棒 The extended meanings of are “to hit with a stick,” 奉，會意。甲骨文像雙 “strong,” “capable,” and “excellent.” In the Oracle-Bone bàng 奉 手恭敬地捧著一物。本 fantastic; stick Inscriptions, looks like two hands holding a plant. Its original meaning is “to hold in both hands respectfully,” 義為捧，是捧的本字。 from which it has derived the meanings “to offer with 引申義有奉上、尊崇、 respect,” “to esteem,” “to serve,” “to believe in,” etc. 信仰、侍侯等。

棒子 棒球 bàngzi stick; club bàngqiú baseball 冰棒 真棒 篆 奉 甲 金 篆 bīngbàng popsicle zhēnbàng excellent (interjection)

PICTOGRAPH In its ancient forms, 包 looks like a fetus in 包 象形。甲骨文像腹中 its mother’s womb. Originally 包 referred to “afterbirth,” 有孕狀，本義為胎衣， 包 from which it has derived the meanings “to wrap,” “to 引申為把東西包起、 surround,” “to contain,” “to contract,” “to charter,” “to 包圍、包含、全部承擔、 guarantee,” “package,” “bundle,” “bag,” “lump,” etc. 包 bāo 擔保、袋子、包裹、像 bag; sack; also serves as a measure word for things in the shape of a bale, a box, a bundle, a package, a packet, or a sack, as 包的東西、包裹起來的 bundle; 東西、腫起的疙瘩，也 package in “一包衣服 (a bundle of clothes),” and “兩包米 (two sacks of rice).” 可以作為量詞（一包衣 SAMPLE服|兩包米）。

包餃子 麵包 bāo jiǎozi to make dumplings miànbāo bread 錢包 書包 甲 篆 qiánbāo wallet; purse shūbāo schoolbag; satchel

26 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 27 to take care of oneself care take to

to hug insurance keep holding holding keep

newspaper poster poster

報 會意。甲骨文、金文 中像一隻手從後按住一個 像帶手銬跪著的人，表 示行將處決犯人。報的 本義是判決犯人。因這 類事情要通報，引申為 報告、報刊、回報等。 簡體字报是繁體字報的 草書楷化字，左邊以扌 替換幸字。 保 會意。甲骨文從人， 從子，像人負子於背。 本義為背在背上，引申 義有養育、保護、保持、 保證等。 抱 會意兼形聲。從扌， 從包，包亦聲。本義為 以手抱持，引申義有擁 抱、圍繞、胸中懷有等。 跑字也以包為聲旁。 bàozhǐ hǎibào yōngbào bàozhe bǎoxiǎn bǎozhòng 海報 抱著 報紙 擁抱 保險 保重 包 The , wrap), wrap), , bāo report; paper report; In the Oracle-Bone Oracle-Bone the In

daily newspaper In the Oracle-Bone and and Oracle-Bone the In

bàogào rìbào to hold a baby in one’s arms one’s hold in a baby to nanny

to ensure safety; ensure to security guard

報告 日報

to feelto apologetic

háizi

and the radical the 扌and hand of the 抱 consists is developed from the cursive style of 報, 报 is developed cursive the from bǎoān bǎomǔ

bào , dull; slow-witted; possibly because wooden), a bàoqiàn dāi 保姆 保安 草 ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE ASSOCIATIVE AND COMPOUND AND PICTOPHONETIC ASSOCIATIVE ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE depicts a person carrying a person 保 depicts character the Inscriptions, “to was original meaning back. a child his/her on Its which from back,” carry one’s on somebody/something up,” bring meanings the “to derived have Chinese the maintain,” “to defend,” “to protect,” “to safeguard,” “to Seal 保 Script, In etc. insure,” “to guarantee,” “to radical person 亻and of the becomes combination the 呆 ( character signifying and phonetic ( 包 component depicts a hand a hand 報 depicts character the Inscriptions, Bronze him forcing head of a handcuffed person, the pressing signifying knees, his her prisoner or the onto her or that pass will be “to of 報 was original The executed. meaning a Since someone is guilty on who a sentence of a crime.” appropriate the to judgeneeds conviction the report to it public, “to mean to 報 extended make and authorities simplifiedThe “newspaper.” and announce,” “to report,” character 幸. radical 扌 replacing hand the with 抱歉 signifying in carrying something or act of holding the “to hug,” meanings“to extended include Its arms. one’s etc. adopt,” “to harbor,” “to surround,” “to embrace,” dull-witted child needsdull-witted protection. more 跑. character is also used the in 抱孩子

篆 篆 SAMPLE

金 金

抱 保 報/报 bào report;to newspaper to hold carry or to arms one’s in bào to protect;to insurance bǎo 甲 篆 甲 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER 杯 consists of the wood 杯 形聲。從木，不聲， 木 不 radical and the phonetic element (bù), which 意為裝飲料的器皿或指 杯 may have referred to a wooden cup. 木做的杯子。

bēi cup; glass

杯子 茶杯 bēizi cup; glass chábēi teacup 篆 一杯茶 乾杯 yìbēichá a cup of tea gānbēi bottoms up; to drink a toast; cheers

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone 北 會意。甲骨文中像二 Inscriptions, the character 北 depicts two people 人背對背站着，本義為違 北 standing back-to-back, meaning “contrary,” “deviate 背，引申為脊背。後來 from,” or “back.” Since traditional Chinese houses 加肉月旁作“背”，表 usually face south (with their backs toward the north), běi 示脊背之義，而“北” 北 means “north.” north 則借用為方位名詞。

北京 北邊 Běijīng Beijing běibiān north side; northern part 甲 金 篆 東北 西北 dōngběi northeast xīběi northwest

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 被 consists 被 形聲。從衤，皮聲。 of the clothes radical 衤and the phonetic element 皮 本義為被子，引申義有 被 被 (pí). The original meaning of is “quilt”, and has been 覆蓋、遭受、表示被動 extended to mean “to cover,” “to suffer from,” and “by 等。皮，會意。金文下像 (an indicator of passive voice).” In Bronze Inscriptions, bèi 皮 手，上像獸形，表示以 by; quilt looks like a hand stripping the skin off an animal, meaning “skin,” “fur,” “leather,” “surface,” etc. 手剝去獸皮。本義為剝 皮，引申為獸皮、皮膚、 皮制的（皮包、皮鞋、 SAMPLE皮帶）、表面的等。

被子 被單 bèizi quilt bèidān bed sheet 篆 皮 甲 金 篆 被動 被告 bèidòng passive bèigào defendant

28 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 29 ， bì nostril nostril

the tip of the nose of the tip the

bíkǒng bítóu 給與)聲，表示用鼻子吸 氣。自，象形。甲骨文 像鼻形。自的本義是鼻 子，因後來引申用作為 自己，而用鼻字來表示 鼻子的意思。 鼻 會意兼形聲。篆文 從自（鼻子），畀( 備 會意。甲骨文、金文 皆像箭在箭匣中，意指 準備、防備、預備、裝 備等。俻是備字的異體 字，簡體字备去掉了俻 字的部首亻。 本 指事。木字下面加一 橫，本義是樹根。引申 為基礎、根源、原來的、 自身的、本錢、書本雜 誌的量詞等。 textbook local to prepare; to make ready prepare; make to to posess; have to

鼻頭 鼻孔 běndì kèběn yùbèi jùbèi and The 具備 本地 預備 課本 nasal sound/tone In the Oracle-Bone and and Oracle-Bone the In nose

), indicating the “nose” that that “nose” the indicating ),

bì The character 本 The character represents ( bízi bíyīn does not mean “nose” anymore since since anymore does “nose” not mean 鼻子 鼻音 preparation; to prepare is used instead. In its ancient forms 畀 forms ancient its In is used instead.

oneself

equipment; facilities originally

is made up of the signifying of the up is made part 自

鼻

běnrén běnlái shèbèi zhǔnbèi 篆 ASSOCIATIVE AND COMPOUND AND PICTOPHONETIC ASSOCIATIVE EXPLICIT CHARACTER CHARACTER EXPLICIT ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE with a horizontal line added at the bottom. line added the at a horizontal 木 with a tree which from root of a tree,” is “the original meaning Its “based on,” “basis,” meanings “foundation,” present its (in business),” “capital “original,” “origin,” “source,” “oneselfand as a been 本 also derived. functions ” have books, for word periodicals, etc. measure looks like an looks 備 an like character the Inscriptions, Bronze Hence, a battle. for signaling ready quiver, the in arrow “ready.” or “prepare,” meanings “cautious,” the of 備 are simplified character the of 備, and form 俻 is a variant right part only of 俻. the 备 remains 本來 character character the phonetic element 畀 element phonetic the 準備 本人 設備 shows 自 shows Inscriptions, Oracle-Bone the In air. breathes place, first the in “nose” to nose, referring of a shape the “from,” own,” “one’s “self,” mean to is borrowed later and 自 Now “since.” or 鼻 character the hands both with looks someone a container holding like upon.” confer give” “to or “to means and

金 SAMPLE 篆

篆 金 自甲

鼻 本

備/备 bí nose (MW for books); for (MW foundation běn to prepare bèi 篆 金 甲 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND The ancient form of 比 比 會意。古文的比字像 depicts two people standing side by side, meaning 靠在一起的兩個人。本義 比 “to juxtapose.” The extended meanings of 比 include 為並列，引申為靠近、 “close together,” “next to,” “to cling to,” “to compare,” 比較、對比、模仿等。 “to compete,” “to model after,” “than,” etc. Can you tell bǐ to compare what the differences are between the left and right part of 比?

比較 比如 bǐjiào to compare; relatively bǐrú for example; proportion 甲 金 篆 比賽 三比二 bǐsài competition; match sān bǐ èr three to two

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone and 筆 會意。從聿（手持筆 聿 Bronze Inscriptions, (yù) shows a hand holding a 形），從竹，指手握竹子 聿 書 筆/笔 brush. You can see in the character (shū, book); 做的筆杆寫字。簡體笔 畫 律 (huà, to paint; painting) and (lǜ, law). The 字保留上邊竹字頭，因 character 筆 combines the bamboo radical  and 聿, bǐ 毛筆筆端用獸毛之故， signifying a writing brush or writing instrument. The pen; 下邊改用毛字。屬新創 writing brush simplified character 笔 combines the bamboo radical 毛 的會意字。 and the character (máo, hair; fur) since the nib of a Chinese brush is made of animal fur and bamboo shafts.

毛筆 圓珠筆 máobǐ writing brush yuánzhūbǐ ballpoint pen 篆 筆試 筆畫 bǐshì written examination bǐhuà strokes of a Chinese character

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 幣 consists 幣 形聲。從巾，敝聲。 巾 of the scarf radical (jīn) and the phonetic indicator 本義指作為禮物的絲織 敝 幣/币 (bì), originally referring to “silk fabric used as a 品，引申為禮物、財物、 幣 present.” has extended to mean “a present,” “money,” 錢幣。敝，會意。左邊 “coin,” and “currency.” In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, b ì 敝 像衣物有洞，右邊手持 currency; coin the left part of depicts a piece of broken cloth with four big holes and the right part the tap/rap radical 攵, 棍拍打，本義為衣服破 meaning “shabby,” “tattered,” and “worn out.” 巾 looks 爛，引申為破舊、衰敗 like a piece of hanging cloth , meaning “scarf,” “towel,” 等。巾，象形。像佩巾 or “napkin.” In the simplified 币, a left falling stroke 下垂形。簡化字币用一 SAMPLE敝 幣 replaces in . 撇代替繁體字幣上部的 敝字。

貨幣 外幣 huòbì money; currency wàibì foreign currency 篆 人民幣 紙幣 rénmínbì PRC Currency (RMB) zhǐbì paper currency

30 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 31 thousands of times of times thousands

as pleases; one casual inexpensive; cheap

)聲。臱，會意。 wànbiàn

biān suíbiàn piányi behind below; under 從自，從旁，金文像鼻的 兩翼。自，象形。像鼻 形，本義為鼻子，後引 申為自己。簡體字边用 力替代臱，屬符號替代 字。元明時已有边字。 遍 形聲。從辵（辶）， 扁聲。意為普遍、到處； 也用作表示次數的量詞。 扁，會意。從戶，從冊， 本義為題字的匾，引申 義指物體平而薄等。 邊 會意兼形聲。從辶， 臱( 便 會意。篆文從人、從 更。人有不便時，更改方 能使之安妥方便。更， 會意兼形聲。甲骨文字 形像手持鏟翻餅狀，引 申為更改。

everywhere; place the all over 便宜 隨便

qiānbiàn , , 扁 biàndì xiàbian hòubian fāng 邊 gēng , side), 後邊 遍地 下邊 千遍萬遍 páng convenience store store convenience and the phonetic phonetic the and

convienient , cave), and 方 ( and , cave), The character 遍 The character is , household) 冊 and ). In the Oracle-Bone Oracle-Bone the ). In

, side), meaning “side,” “side,” meaning side), , hù xuè pián biān combines combines 便 The character biànlìdiàn 穴 ( fāngbiàn , nose; oneself( 旁 ) with , flat), signifying “to walk all over.” signifyingwalkflat), , “to all over.” above; of top on

zì

便利店 方便 in front in

common; universal biǎn one time one resembles a hand holding a spatula a spatula holding a hand resembles 更

is the pictograph of a single leaf door. In In pictograph戶 is the of a single leaf door.

is used to mean “flat”. In the Oracle-Bone Oracle-Bone the In “flat”. 扁 is used mean to ( 扁

yíbiàn pǔbiàn qiánbian shàngbian ), and “inexpensive” ( “inexpensive” ), and , volume; copy) and originally meant a horizontal a horizontal , volume; originally and copy) meant biàn cè 金 PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE ASSOCIATIVE AND COMPOUND AND PICTOPHONETIC ASSOCIATIVE 普遍 and the signifying walkradical the of the 辶 and is comprised ( 臱 element phonetic and 前邊 Inscriptions, Inscriptions, meanings: its a griddle. on Hence a pancake turn to “alternate.” or “change” board bearing an inscription hanging over the door. door. the over hanging inscription an board bearing Nowadays Inscriptions, of bambooa scroll 冊 depicts systems, writing ancient together. slips bound 一遍 “edge,” “border,” or “next.” In the Bronze Inscriptions, Inscriptions, Bronze the In “next.” or “border,” “edge,” 自 ( 臱 combines Its extended meanings include “everywhere,” “all over,” over,” “all meanings “everywhere,” extended include Its Seal the Script, In time.” “one and “throughout,” of 戶 ( combination is the referring to the sides of a nose. In Regular sides of a nose. In 臱 is Script, the to referring of 自, combination the 上邊 ( 更 character the radical person 亻with the ( change), referring to the ways in which people create whichpeople in create ways the to referring change), of 便 include: Meanings things easier. make to shortcuts “informal” “convenient,” “beneficial,” “suitable,” ( replaces 臱. 边, 力 replaces simplified character the In square). composed walk radical of the 辶 indicator indicator 更甲 SAMPLE 篆

篆 遍 便 邊/边 biàn actions) for (MW convenient pián inexpensive biàn side biān 篆 金 金 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In its ancient form, the 表 會意。篆文從衣， character 表 looks like a fur coat with the fur facing 從毛。古代以獸皮為衣， 表 out, signifying “a fur coat.” Later 表 came to mean 毛皆在外，故表字本義 “outside,” “surface,” “appearance,” “to show,” “example,” 為外衣，引申為外面、 “chart,” or “form.” In addition, 表 refers to the children biǎo 外表、表格、表率、表 surface; of paternal aunts or maternal uncles or aunts, while 堂 達、外親（表親）等。 matrilineal (táng, [main] hall) is used for the children of relatives paternal uncles. The original meanings of 堂 and 表 indicate that traditionally, children of paternal uncles were considered closer to the inner family and more important. In Chinese, 表親 (maternal relatives) are also called 外親 (literally “outside relatives”).

表面 外表 biǎomiàn surface wàibiǎo appearance 甲 篆 表姐 表現 biǎojiě older female cousin via female line biǎoxiàn behavior; performance

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone 別 會意。甲骨文從刀， Inscriptions, the left part of 別 represents a knife and 從冎( )， 本義指以刀 guǎ 別/别 the right part resembles bone fragments, signifying 剔下骨頭上肉。另, 象 the action of separating bones from flesh. The primary 形，与冎本為一字，甲 meaning of 別 is “to separate” or “part.” Its extended bié 骨文中像剔乾淨用來占 other; do not meanings include “distinguish,” “other,” “another,” and “do not.” In the simplified character 别, the right part is 卜的牛骨。簡體字别的 the knife radical刂, just as in the traditional version, but 左下方寫作力，與繁體 the left bottom part is 力, which differs slightly from 字別稍有不同。 the traditional character 別.

別的 別人 biéde else; other biérén other people; others 特別 別字 甲 篆 tèbié special; especially biézì mispronounced or wrongly written character

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND The character 冰 is the 冰 会意。從冫（冫的 combination of the ice radical 冫 and water 水, 意思是冰），從水，意 冰 signifying that ice is frozen water. 冰 can be used as a 指水結成冰。另外可用 verb meaning “to cool things with ice,” “to make cold,” 作動詞，指使人感到寒 and as an adjective meaning “iced,” “ice-cold,” etc. In bīng 冰糖 冷或用冰使東西變涼。 ice some word combinations like (bīngtáng, crystal sugar), 冰 stands for an ice-like substance. 也可用做形容詞，指像 SAMPLE冰一樣。

冰箱 冰水 bīngxiāng fridge bīngshuǐ iced water 滑冰 冰激淩 金 篆 huábīng to skate; skating bīngjīlíng ice cream

32 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 33 need not different; not the same not different;

shortcoming; defect to goto a doctor to

to synchronize;to synchronization 步 會意。甲骨文、金 文、篆文像左右腳一前 一後行走狀。本義為用 腳行走，引申為腳步、 階段、地步等。 病 形聲。從疒，丙聲。 篆文疒像是一張病床。病 古代為重病，引申為疾病 的統稱、缺點、毛病等。 有疒字旁的字多與身體的 疾病或不適有關，譬如 瘡、瘋癲、瘟疫、疼痛、 痰、瘦、癌、癢。丙，象 形。意指魚尾，後被借用 為天干的第三位，也表示 順序中的第三。 不 假借。像種子萌芽即 將破土而出時的形狀， 是胚的本字。後多借為 否定詞，本義遂不用。

progress; to progress

bùtóng búyòng , , ái 不用 不同 jìnbù tóngbù kànbìng máobìng yǎng 毛病 進步 看病 同步 ) and the phonetic phonetic the and ) , skinny), 癢 ( , skinny), nè The character 病 is The character In the Oracle-Bone Oracle-Bone the In shòu In the Oracle-Bone and and Oracle-Bone the In , third), meaning “illness,” “illness,” , third), meaning bĭng not bad; pretty good before long;before future near to fallto sick

, ache), 瘦 (

, mad; crazy), etc. In ancient forms, forms, ancient , mad; crazy), In etc. patient

to run take a walk 丙 ( tòng

fēng búcuò bùjiǔ 痛 ( 瘋 (

不錯 不久 pǎobù sànbù bìngrén shēngbìng ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND COMPOUND ASSOCIATIVE PHONETIC LOAN CHARACTER PHONETIC LOAN PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC 病人 散步 represents 步 represents character the Inscriptions, Bronze original Its other. of the front in one two footprints, which it from walk,” go foot” on “to or is “to meaning “degree,” “stage,” “pace,” meanings the “step,” derived has Regular bears a In 步 still Script, “situation.” and the and top the on one two to footprints, resemblance underneath. other 生病 跑步 depicts a fish tail and later was borrowed to mean to mean was borrowed taillater and a fish 丙 depicts (see page 20). stem” heavenly “third or “third,” component made up of the sick radical sick ( 疒 the of up made Inscriptions, the horizontal stroke of the character 不 character of the stroke horizontal the Inscriptions, underneath strokes three the and ground, the represents signify seed. of 不 original The meaning a germinating mean to borrowed was later but of a plant,” “seed was “not.” or “no” “ailment,” “sickness,” “disease,” “to fall ill,” “defect,” or or “defect,” fall ill,” “to “disease,” “sickness,” “ailment,” Seal 疒 looks a bedsick. Script, the like In for “fault.” associated radicaloften the sick are with The characters as such 癌 ( conditions, unhealthy or illnesses with cancer), cancer), itchy),

篆 SAMPLE 篆

金 金

步 不 病

bù step; pace not; no bù illness; become to ill bìng 甲 甲 篆 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The EXPLICIT CHARACTER The character 才 looks like 才 指事。甲骨文中一橫 a seedling just breaking through the ground. The 畫象徵土地，表示種子已 才 horizontal stroke represents the ground and the part 生根發芽、破土而出。 underneath is the root of the seedling. The meanings 本義為草木初生，引申 of 才 include “just,” “only,” “not until,” “ability,” “talent,” cái 為剛剛。 not until; only then etc.

剛才 才能 gāngcái just now; a moment ago cáinéng talent; ability 甲 金 篆 口才 天才 kǒucái eloquence tiāncái genius; talented

ASSOCIATIVE AND PICTOPHONETIC COMPOUND The 菜 會意兼形聲。本義為 character 菜 is composed of the grass/plant radical 蔬菜。從艸，采聲。采亦 艹 采 菜 and phonetic and signifying component (cǎi), 有採摘之意。采，會意。 meaning “vegetable.” In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, 像以手採樹上果實。 the character 采 looks like a hand picking fruits from cài dish; cuisine; a tree, and means “pick,” “pluck,” or “gather.” When vegetable vegetables are ripe, people will gather them.

青菜 做菜 qīngcài green vegetable zuòcài to cook 篆 甲 金 篆 點菜 菜單 采 diǎncài to order dishes càidān menu

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 餐 consists 餐 形聲。從食， 聲， 食 of the radical (shí, eat) and phonetic element 意為吞嚥、吃飯。甲骨 餐 (cán), meaning “to eat,” “food,” or “meal.” In the Oracle- 文中“食”字上邊像是 Bone Inscriptions, the lower part of 食 resembles a high-legged container full of food, while the upper 向下張開的嘴，下邊像 cān 是盛滿了食物的容器， meal part represents an open mouth, referring to the act of eating. In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, the character 表示張口向下吃容器中 depicts a hand next to a skeleton or bones, meaning 的食物。 SAMPLE“remnant,” “ferocious,” etc.

餐廳 餐館 cāntīng dining hall cānguǎn restaurant 篆 中餐 西餐 zhōngcān Chinese food xīcān Western-style food

34 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 35

public toilet

women’s room room women’s

gōngcè nǚcè to consult a dictionary consult to

女廁 公廁 black tea to interrogate

茶 形聲。茶与荼本為一 字，從艸，余聲，本義 為一種苦菜。唐代時將 “荼”減去一筆而成為 “茶”。 廁 形聲。從广（敞屋）， 則聲，意為廁所。則， 會意。金文從鼎，從刂， 因古代的法律條文曾經 刻鑄在鼎上，讓人遵守， 本義為規則，也用作副 詞，表示轉折。因鼎、 貝二字在古文中形近， 篆文將則的左邊由鼎改 為貝。厠是廁的俗體字， 簡化字厕來源於厠。 查 形聲。篆文從木， 且聲。楷書從木，旦聲。 本義一說是木筏，一說為 砍剩的木樁。引申義有檢 查、調查、翻檢（查字 典，查資料等）。旦， 指事。一代表地平綫， 表示太陽剛從地平綫上升 起，本義為日出天亮時。 teacup teacup

zìdiǎn

, chá chábēi hóngchá cháwèn rén is a a is 查 has 鼎 . Hence, Hence, . 查字典 茶杯 查問 紅茶 鼎 is the simplified is the men’s room men’s bathroom; toilet toilet bathroom; , from which the whichthe from ,

), meaning tea. In tea. meaning ), In The character 廁 The character yú In Seal the Script, In ) and a knife. knife. a and ) consists consists 查 The character cèsuǒ náncè , shed;, roof; and shelter) ( 余 dǐng , rule; meaning regulation), , wood; a resembling tree), 艹 (grass radical), 人 ( ( yǎn zé 男廁 廁所 ( mù ( has derived. 贝 derived. has and the phonetic component component phonetic the 木 and is a variant of 廁 variant a is tea house tea to investigate to

to check;to inspect to

tea; tea-leaves

. (the grass or herb radical), grass herb or (the 艸 of consists 茶 篆 . a wooden raft to ), originally referring remains. 厠

cháyè cháguǎn jiǎnchá diàochá 刂 dàn means “law,” “rule,” or “regulation.” In Seal Script, In “regulation.” or “rule,” “law,” means knife the 則, but character the 貝 in is replaced by PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC 旦 ( of the wood of the radical character character element phonetic the and 茶館 茶葉 調查 person harvesting tea leaves. leaves. tea harvesting person Rgular 茶 contains Script, contains the radical 广 the contains 則 Inscriptions, Bronze the In “toilet.” or “lavatory” of 鼎 combination the is the phonetic element 則 element phonetic the times, ancient large, three-leggedcaldron. In bronze carved often on were regulations and laws 則 鼎 檢查 been extended to mean “to check,” “to examine,” “to “to examine,” “to check,” “to mean been to extended (a reference consult “to or look into,” “to investigate,” has probably because one etc),” book, dictionary, it. 旦 is on off checkto carefully raft a setting before underneath, stroke composed a horizontal of 日 and 旦 horizon. above the rising symbolizing sun the “dawn.” or “daybreak” means therefore man; person), and 木 ( and man; person), part simplified character 厕 simplified character form of 貝 form

鼎 甲

則 金 SAMPLE

茶 查 廁/厕 chá tea to check;to look to up chá toilet cè 篆 篆 篆 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Bronze Inscriptions, 差 會意。金文上從小 差 麥 the character consists of (mài, wheat) on top and 麥，下是一隻手與工， 工 差 a hand and (gōng, to work) underneath, suggesting 表示以手搓麥粒，當是 the act of rubbing off wheat husks with one’s hands. 搓的本字。引申為相差 Its extended meanings include “to differ from,” “to chà/chā （差不多、差一點）、 to fall short of fall short of,” “lacking,” “wrong,” “poor,” “not up to standard,” and “inferior.” In Regular Script, the top part 欠缺、缺少 （差五分九 差 羊 點，差兩毛錢），不好、 of is similar to (yáng, sheep) and the bottom part is 工. 不夠標準（成績差、質 量差）等。

差不多 差一點 chàbùduō almost; about the same chàyìdiǎn almost; missed by just a little bit 差別 差距 金 篆 chābié difference chājù gap; disparity

PICTOGRAPH In its ancient form, the character 長 looks 長 象形。古字像一長髮 like an old man with long hair and a walking stick. The 拄杖之老人。本義為髮 長/长 original meaning of 長 is “long hair,” and the extended 長，引申義有長度、長 meanings include “long,” “length,” “strong point,” “be 久、長處、擅長等。長作 good at,” etc. When 長 means “head,” “leader,’’ or is used cháng 為動詞時，意為生長。 long as the verb “to grow,” it is pronounced as zhǎng.

zhǎng to grow; leader

長城 長期 chángchéng the Great Wall chángqī long term 生長 校長 甲 金 篆 草 shēngzhǎng grow; grow up xiàozhǎng (school) president; headmaster

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER In Seal Script, 常 consists 常 形聲。篆文從巾，尚 巾 of the radical (jīn, scarf ) and the phonetic indicator 聲。本義指裙子，與裳本 尚 常 常 (shàng, uphold; esteem). The original meaning of 為一字，後分開，常意為 was “skirt” or “clothes,” but later came to mean “often,” 經常、常規、日常等。 “constant,” and “ordinary.” In its ancient form, 巾 is cháng 尚 often; a pictograph of a scarf, whereas resembles smoke ordinary SAMPLEdrifting from a window.

常常 非常 chángcháng often; frequently fēicháng unusual; extraordinary 常識 正常 篆 chángshí common sense; general knowledge zhèngcháng regular; normal

36 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 37 public square

airport

superman to go over the speed go the to limit over

jīchǎng guǎngchǎng gramophone record 機場 廣場

chorus; chorus to chāorén chāosù

超 形聲。從走，召聲。 本義為跳躍，引申義有 超過、不同尋常的、在 某個範圍之外等。召， 形聲。從口，刀聲。 意為呼喚、召集。 場 形聲。從土，昜聲。 古代祭神用的平地，引申 為場地、處所等。昜， (像 會意。從日，從勿 陽光穿過雲層射出狀)， 意指日出。簡體字场是 由繁體字場的草書楷化 而來。 唱 形聲。從口，昌聲。 昌，會意。從日，從曰 （説話）。本義指光明 磊落的言詞， 引申為美 好、昌盛等。 超人 超速 héchàng chàngpiàn contains 唱片 合唱 derives derives 场 , sun), while , sun), rì , mouth) and the the and mouth) , , speak; the at say) The character 超 The character mall;store department kǒu supermarket

The character 場 is The character

yuē ball field; sports ground

The character 唱 The character , knife), meaning “to call,” call,” “to meaning , knife), , walk) and the phonetic phonetic , walk) the and dāo overweight shìchǎng zǒu ). Its original meaning is “to is “to original meaning ). Its

shāngchǎng qiúchǎng

zhào ), meaning “field,” “stage,” or “a large“a or “stage,” “field,” ), meaning sing (insing a performance) to sing a song sing to ( of 口 up made is

chāojí

has a horizontal line horizontal a has 昜 easy),, that note 商場 球場 yáng 召 ( yì chāozhòng , sun) on top and 曰 ( and top on , sun) 昜 (

means “sun” or “sunshine.” When comparing comparing When “sunshine.” or “sun” 昜 means rì consists 昌 consists , flourishing), sing.” “to meaning chànggē yǎnchàng 超重 超級市場 日 ( chāng PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC 唱歌 place used for a specific purpose.” In the Oracle-Bone Oracle-Bone the In place used a specific for purpose.” part日 ( of 昜 is upper the Inscriptions, is comprised of 走 ( is comprised 演唱 “to convene,” or “to summon.” “to or convene,” “to phonetic indicator 刀 ( indicator phonetic and the phonetic phonetic radicalthe earth 土 and of the comprised element jump over,” from which it has derived the meanings the derived has whichit from over,” jump excel,” “to overtake,” “to exceed,” “to surpass,” “to “detached,” “superb,” transcend,” “to go beyond,” “to the Inscriptions, Bronze the In etc. “ultra-,” “super-,” rapidly part walking of 走 looks a person upper like a swinging, part arms represents with lower while the foot. 召 human under the sun part. The simplified character part.character simplifiedThe sun the under from the cursive style of the traditional character 場. character style traditional of the cursive the from and the phonetic component 昌 component phonetic radical the 口 and mouth the ( bottom. Its original meaning was “to speak openly” or “to was original meaning bottom.Its symbolizes and being sun” the under literally “speak or frank. and alsotruthful “prosperous” 昌 can mean “flourishing.” the lower part resembles sunlight piercing through the the through sunlight piercing part resembles lower the clouds. ( 易 with 昜 component of 金 SAMPLE 篆 昜 甲 昌 篆 走 金

草 超 唱 場/场 chāo exceed;to surpass to to sing chàng field chǎng 篆 篆 篆 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 吵 consists 吵 形聲。篆文從言， of the mouth radical 口 and the phonetic element 少 少聲。楷書改為從口。 吵 (shǎo), meaning “noisy,” “to quarrel,” “to wrangle,” or 本義為喧嚷，引申為爭 少 “to disturb.” In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, depicts 吵、吵架、擾亂等。少, four grains of sand, suggesting “few,” “little,” “less,” “to be chǎo 象形。在甲骨文像是四 to quarrel; short of,” and “missing.” In Regular Script, the bottom grain becomes a downward left stroke. 粒細小的沙子。意指數量 noisy 不多、時間短、短缺、 丟失等。

吵架 to quarrel 吵鬧 noisy 篆 少 甲 金 篆 chǎojià chǎonào

PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER The character 襯 consists 襯 形聲。從衣/衤， of the clothing radical 衤and the phonetic component 親聲。意指内衣、襯裏。 親 襯 襯/衬 (qīn), meaning “lining.” also extends to mean 親，形聲。從見，亲聲。 “place something underneath,” “provide a background 本義為常見，引申為親 for,” or “set off.” In the Bronze Inscriptions, 親 contains chèn 見 辛 近。簡體字衬右邊以寸 lining the radical and the phonetic component (xīn), meaning “close” or “intimate.” In the simplified 代替親，因寸與襯聲音 character 衬, 寸 replaces 親, since the pronunciation of 相近。 寸 襯 (cùn) is similar to that of (chèn).

襯衫 襯褲 chènshān shirt; blouse chènkù underpants 襯托 反襯 chèntuō set off; serve as a foil to fǎnchèn set off by contrast

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone and 成 會意。甲骨文、金文 Bronze Inscriptions, the character 成 depicts the act 字形像以戊（斧型兵器） 戊 成 of splitting something with a battle-axe (wù). Its 劈一物，本義為休兵言和 original meaning is “cease-fire” or “to complete a task,” 結盟或完成任務。引申義 from which the meanings “to finish,” “to accomplish,” chéng 有完成、成功、成就、 to become; “to succeed,” “achievement,” “to become,” “to turn into,” “capable,” “all right,” “established,” and “one-tenth” 變成、成為、成全、成 to succeed 就等。戊 ( )，象形。 have derived. In the Oracle-Bone Inscriptions, 戊 is the wù pictograph of a battle-axe. Later 戊 was borrowed to 甲骨文、金文像一種刃 SAMPLEmean “the fifth heavenly stem” (see page 20) and “the 寬柄長的斧型古代兵器， fifth (in order).” 屬斧鉞類。後假借為天 干的第五位。

完成 成功 wánchéng to complete chénggōng success; to succeed 成人 成為 甲 金 篆 chéngrén adult chéngwéi to become

38 The Way of Chinese Characters A - F 39 tasty; delicious

to feelto jealous taxi; cab

the Great Wall Great the

single trip; one-way single trip; one-way castle; tower

吃 形聲。從口，乞聲， 意為進食。乞，本為气， 甲骨文、金文中像天上的 雲氣浮動狀。后省去一筆 為乞。乞由气字分化而 來，意為請求、乞討。 城 形聲。從土，成聲。 本義指城牆。古代城市皆 有墻，因而引申為城市。 程 形聲。從禾，呈聲， 意指稱量穀物。本義為度 量衡的總稱，引申為稱 量、規矩、程序、路程、 里程等。呈，形聲。從 口，從壬。像一人站在 地上發言。意為顯露、 呈現、呈送、呈子等。 hǎochī chīcù 吃醋 好吃 jìchéngchē dānchéng chángchéng chéngbǎo 單程 長城 計程車 城堡 extended extended 城 is derived derived is 乞 is formed with with is formed 呈 and the phonetic phonetic the and 土 The character 吃 The character The character 城 is The character consists consists 程 The character and the phonetic element element phonetic the and , a person standing on the the on standing , a person tǐng , air) meaning “to supplicate” supplicate” “to , air) meaning qì , succeed), originally meaning “wall.” , succeed), originally “wall.” meaning

city anceint city anceint

daily schedule; agenda

mileage snack; refreshments

to have a meal; have to eat to

looks like three thin clouds in the sky, sky, the clouds in thin 气 looks three like

chéng was a general name of measurements of all of measurements a general程 was name

成 ( , mouth) and 壬 ( and , mouth) ), meaning “to eat.” The character character The eat.” “to meaning ), chīfàn xiǎochī rìchéng lǐchéng gǔchéng chéngshì qǐ kǒu PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC PICTOPHONETIC CHARACTER CHARACTER PICTOPHONETIC 小吃 口 ( of the growing grain radical growing 禾 of the grain. act of weighing 呈, signaling measuring the or Originally assess,” “to measure,” “to mean to came later and kinds, “formula,” “procedure,” “order,” “regulation,” “rule,” “distance.” or “journey,” “schedule,” and the phonetic phonetic radical the 口 and mouth the combines ( 乞 里程 or “beg for alms,” etc. In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze Bronze and Oracle-Bone the In etc. “beg or alms,” for Inscriptions, difference the note to Be sure “breath.” or “air” meaning between 乞. 气 and ground), representing a man standing on the ground ground the on standing man a ground), representing show,” “to appear,” “to usedmean to speaking.and It’s “petition.” and submit,” “to 城市 comprised of the soil/earth radical soil/earth the of comprised element element Since all cities had walls in ancient times, times, wallsancient in all had Since cities “city.” mean to 日程 古城 吃飯 from the character 气 ( character the from SAMPLE 篆

吃 程 城 chī eat to journey; schedule chéng city; town chéng 篆 篆 金 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The ASSOCIATIVE AND PICTOPHONETIC COMPOUND The 寵 形聲兼會意。從宀， character 寵 combines the roof radical 宀 with the 龍聲，龍亦兼表神聖之 龍 寵/宠 semantic and phonetic element (lóng, dragon), 意。本義為地位尊崇、 originally meaning “to worship,” “respectable,” or “glory.” Extended meanings of 寵 are “favor (especially 榮耀，引申為上給下恩 chǒng of the emperor),” “to favor,” or “to pamper.” In the 惠使之榮耀、偏愛、驕 to dote on Oracle-Bone and Bronze Inscriptions, 龍 is the sketch of 縱等。龍，象形。像傳 a dragon. In Chinese tradition, the dragon is considered 説中神異動物龍的形狀。 an auspicious totem that can bring rain to the fields, and 古時已有將龍字寫成尨， is also the symbol of the emperor. 尨 is a variant form of 龍, from which the simplified character 龙 derives. In 簡化字龙是在尨字的基 the character 宠, the “dragon” part is simplified. 礎上進一步簡化。宠屬 於偏旁類推簡化。

寵物 寵愛 chǒngwù pet chǒng’ài to dote on; to love dearly 寵兒 寵壞 金 篆 龍 甲 金 chǒngér favorite chǒnghuài spoiled

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND In the Oracle-Bone and 出 會意。甲骨文、金文 Bronze Inscriptions, the character 出 resembles a foot 中本字上部從止，下部 出 on top of a cave dwelling, meaning “to go or come out.” 像洞穴，表示人從穴居 出 Extended meanings of include “to appear,” “happen,” 走出。 “issue,” “produce,” etc. In Regular Script, 出 looks quite chū to go out different from its earlier forms.

出來 出去 chūlai come out chūqu go out 出口 出現 甲 金 篆 chūkǒu exit; export chūxiàn to appear; to emerge

ASSOCIATIVE COMPOUND The character 初 is made 初 會意。甲骨文從 衤 衣 刀 up of the clothes radical ( ) and (dāo, knife), 衤/衣，從刀，本義為裁 初 suggesting that “cutting cloth is the beginning of 衣是制衣之始。引申為 making a dress.” Its extended meanings are “beginning,” 開始、第一次（初版， “start,” “first,” “original,” “elementary,” “basic,” “junior,” chū 初戀，初賽）、原來的 beginning; and “early.” Note the differences between the clothes radical 衤(衣) and the show/altar radical 礻(示). （初衷）、最低的（初 elementary 級、初中）、每月開始的 SAMPLE頭十天等。

初期 初次 chūqī initial stage chūcì first time 初中 初學者 甲 金 篆 chūzhōng junior middle school chūxuézhě beginner

40 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 227 18 18 19 19 19 11 11 11 12 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 17 17 18 = Bound Form = Measure Word = Particle = Question Particle Form = Variant/Radical

* MW P QP ( ) seven eight nine to walk short-tailed bird rain horse one two three four ear clothing NUMERALS liùqī six bā jiǔ shí ten bèizǒu cowry shell zújīn enough foot; mén metal; gold; (surname) zhuī door; gate yǔ shímǎ to eat yī èr sān sì wǔ five shìmìshow to ěr silk yī yán speech word; 六 七 八 九 十 貝/贝 走 足 金 門/门 隹 雨 食 馬/马 一 二 三 四 五 示(礻) 糸/纟 耳 衣(衤) 言（ 讠） Integrated Chinese Lesson Chinese Integrated By

6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 10 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 1

CHARACTER INDEXCHARACTER SAMPLE water field; (surname) tiny; small bow heart dagger-axe hand sun; day earth sunset; evening female; woman baby; child little; small tool; work; labor knife power; strength mouth; entrance RADICALS shuǐ huǒtián fire mù eye shǒu rì yuèmù moon; month wood yāo gōng xīn gē zǐ cùnxiǎo inch gōng tǔ xī dànǚ big; great lì yòukǒu right hand; again wéi enclose réndāo person; people 目 火(灬) 田 木 水(氵) 日 月 戈 手(扌) 弓 心(忄) 工 幺 寸 小 女 子 夕 大 囗 土 又 口 刀(刂) 力 人(亻) This index contains all the characters found in in found all characters the contains index This 2 1, Part Level 1 and Part 1, Level Chinese Integrated arranged lesson. each as in they appear The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The LESSON 1 紐/纽 niǔ knob; button 130 你 nǐ you 129 約/约 yuē agreement; appointment 208

好 hǎo/hào good; fine/ to like; to be fond 77 of LESSON 2 請/请 qǐng please; to invite 139 那 nà/nèi that 126 問/问 wèn to ask (a question) 177 的 de possessive P 49 貴/贵 guì honorable; expensive 74 照 zhào photograph; to shine 213 姓 xìng surname 189 片 piàn MW (for tablets, films); slice 134 我 wǒ I; me 178 這/这 zhè(i) this 214 呢 ne QP 128 爸 bà father; dad 23 姐 jiě elder sister 94 媽/妈 mā mother; mom 117 叫 jiào to be called; to call 93 個/个 gè MW (general) 68 什(甚) shén *what 148 孩 hái child 75 麼/么 me QP 120 誰/谁 shéi who 147 名 míng name 124 她 tā she 163 字 zì character 222 男 nán male 127 先 xiān first 183 弟 dì younger brother 50 生 shēng to be born; to grow 148 他 tā he 163 李 lǐ (surname); plum 110 哥 gē elder brother 67 友 yǒu friend 204 兒/儿 ér son; child 57 王 wáng king; (surname) 10 有 yǒu to have; to exist 204 朋 péng friend 133 没(沒) méi/ mò (have) not/ to sink 121 是 shì to be 152 高 gāo tall; high 66 老 lǎo old 108 文 wén (written) language; script 177 師/师 shī teacher 149 家 jiā family; home 89 嗎/吗 ma QP 118 幾/几 jǐ how many; a few 87 不 bù not; no 33 兩/两 liǎng two; a couple of 113 學/学 xué to study 190 妹 mèi younger sister 122 也 yě also; too 196 和 hé/*huo and; harmonious/ *warm 78 人 rén people; person 1 做 zuò to do 225 中 zhōng center; middle 218 作 zuò to work; to do 225 國/国 guó country; nation 74 律 北 lǜ law; rule 116 běi SAMPLEnorth 28 都 dōu/dū all; both/ capital 54 京 jīng capital city 96 醫/医 yī doctor; medicine 197 美 měi beautiful 121

228 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 229 202 36 140 172 103 103 151 79 119 124 176 200 170 142 150 220 124 45 140 101 52 152 37 68 169 179 169 200 209 155 56 149 80 shadow to hit song to dance; dance to listen sound; music book quarter (hour); to carve quarter (hour); affair; matter very for because week; cycle LESSON 4 LESSON yǐng chángqù often; ordinary wài to go kè outside; foreign guest dǎ qiúkàn ball diàn to watch; to read shì electricity chàngview; to look at to gē to sing tiàowǔ to jump tīng yīn yuè/ lèshū music/ happy duìshí correct; toward hòu time await time; season; kè shì hěn mángmíng busy wèi/wéi bright yīn tóngrèn same shí to recognize; to know recognize to zhōu mò end

影 常 去 外 客 打 球 看 電/电 視/视 唱 歌 跳 舞 聽/听 音 樂/乐 書/书 對/对 時/时 候 刻 事 很 忙 明 為/为 因 同 認/认 識/识 週/周 末

102 122 51 25 173 145 13 210 183 210 168 95 56 162 39 59 211 194 164 108 187 181 83 34 75 24 201 22 77 188 136 129 but; to permit *(plural suffix) evening; late SAMPLE P to like; happy happy; joyous return sky; day today; now many; much to eat meal; (cooked) rice how white; (surname) love; to love star period (of time) LESSON 3 LESSON xiànzài now; present at; in; on wǎn shàngjiàn above; top zài to see again kě men diǎnbàn dot; o’clock half xǐ huān càihái/huán still; yet/ to exchange; to dish; cuisine; vegetable yàngtài appearance kind; le too; extremely xiè to thank suìchī age fàn zěn tiān jīn niánduō year hàoxīng number qī bái yīngài flower; hero; *England 在 再 現/现 上 見/见 半 晚 可 們/们 點/点 還/还 歡/欢 菜/菜 謝/谢 喜 太 了 怎 樣/样 吃 飯/饭 多 歲/岁 今 年 期 天 號/号 星 英 愛/爱 白 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The 昨 zuó yesterday 224 吧 ba P (a sentence-ending particle) 23

所 suǒ *so; place 162 要 yào to want 195

以 yǐ with 198 瓶 píng bottle 135

久 jiǔ long time 98 起 qǐ to rise 136

錯/错 cuò wrong; error 45 給/给 gěi to give 68

想 xiǎng to want to; to think 185 杯 bēi cup; glass 28

覺/觉 jiào/jué to sleep/ to feel; to think 99 玩 wán to play; to have fun 173

得 dé/děi to obtain; to get; P/ must; 48 圖/图 tú picture; drawing 171 have to 館/馆 guǎn place; building 73 意 yì meaning 199 聊 liáo to chat 113 思 sī to think 159 才 cái not until; only then 34 只 zhǐ only 217 回 huí to return 84 睡 shuì to sleep 158

算 suàn to calculate 161 LESSON 6 找 zhǎo to look for; to seek 212 話/话 huà speech 82 別/别 bié other; do not 32 喂 wéi/wèi Hello!; Hey! 176

就 jiù just 99 LESSON 5 您 nín you (polite) 130 呀 ya P 192 位 wèi MW (for people [polite]) 175 進/进 jìn to enter 96 午 wǔ noon 178 快 kuài fast; quick 105 間/间 jiān MW (for rooms); between 90 來/来 lái to come 106 題/题 tí topic; question 167 介 jiè to be between 94 開/开 kāi to open; to operate 100 紹/绍 shào to introduce; to continue 146 會/会 huì meeting 84 下 xià below; under 182 節/节 jié MW (for classes); holiday 94 興/兴 xìng mood; interest 189 課/课 kè class; lesson 104 漂 piào/ *pretty/ to float 135 級/级 piāo jí grade; level 86 考 亮 liàng bright 113 kǎo test; to test 101 試/试 坐 zuò to sit 225 shì test; to try 153 後/后 哪 nǎ/něi which 126 hòu after; behind 80 空 校 xiào school 186 kòng/ free time/ empty; sky 104 kōng 喝 hē to drink 78 方 SAMPLEfāng square; side; method 9 茶 chá tea 35 便 biàn/ convenient; handy/ 31 咖 kā *coffee 100 pián *inexpensive

啡 fēi *coffee 60 到 dào to arrive 48

230 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 231 147 215 138 67 58 142 199 43 76 127 135 211 70 150 129 115 157 105 134 88 108 42 181 211 31 57 188 128 34 170 174 160 to remember; to record to wash bath side to emit; to issue new brain meal hall net method; way; law method; way; easy word difficult; hard early skill begin to record LESSON 8 LESSON shèzhèng house; residence qián just; upright gào front; before tell; to inform to piānjì MW (for articles) lèichuáng tired xǐ bed zǎo biān fā xīn nǎo cān tīng wǎng sù to lodge to stay; fǎ róngyì to contain to hold; cí hànnán Chinese ethnicity píngzǎo even level; gōng shǐ niànlù to read aloud shuàikù handsome; smart cool; cruel

舍 正 前 告 篇 記/记 累 床(牀) 洗 澡 邊/边 發/发 新 腦/脑 餐 廳/厅 網/网 宿 法 容 易 詞/词 漢/汉 難/难 平 早 功 始 唸/念 錄/录 帥/帅 酷

212 217 92 54 214 110 206 51 205 222 181 158 21 46 69 123 64 187 119 216 30 25 69 152 189 50 137 26 29 112 SAMPLE (ordinal prefix) language (surname) paper to understand true; real; really inside to duplicate to write objects) pen; writing brush standard; criterion to practice to speak P with; and public bank to walk; okay/ firm; to wait; rank air to help LESSON 7 LESSON dì yǔ dǒng zhēn lǐ yù in advance; beforehand zhāng MW (for flat objects); zhǐ jiāo/jiào to teach/ education xiě mànzhī slow bǐ branch; MW (for long, thin miàn face fù shuō a dàngēn but; however zhǔn bèiliàn to prepare xí to practice; to drill děng qì bāng bàngōng to manage shìxíng/ háng room 語/语 預/预 第 真(眞) 裏/裡/ 里 教(敎) 懂/懂 紙/纸 筆/笔 張/张 慢 枝 復/复 寫/写 跟 面 啊 但 習/习 說/说 備/备 練/练 幫/帮 凖/准 等 氣/气 行 辦/办 公 室 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The 訴/诉 sù to tell; to relate 161 紅/红 hóng red 79

已 yǐ already 198 穿 chuān to wear; to pass through 42

經/经 jīng to pass through 97 條/条 tiáo MW (for long, thin objects) 168

知 zhī to know 216 褲/裤 kù pants 105

道 dào road; way 48 宜 yí suitable 197

封 fēng MW (for letters) 62 如 rú as; if 143

信 xìn letter; to believe 188 果 guǒ fruit; result 74

最 zuì most 224 長/长 cháng/ long/ to grow; leader 36 zhǎng 近 jìn close; near 95 短 duǎn short 55 除 chú except 41 合 hé to suit; to fit 78 專/专 zhuān special 221 適/适 shì to suit; appropriate 153 業/业 yè profession 197 共 gòng altogether 70 希 xī to hope 180 少 shǎo/ few; little; less/ young 146 望 wàng to hope; to gaze 175 shào 能 néng can; to be able to 128 錢/钱 qián money 138 用 yòng to use 203 塊/块 kuài piece; dollar 106 笑 xiào to laugh; to smile 186 毛 máo hair; dime 120 祝 zhù to wish (well) 221 分 fēn penny; minute 61

百 bǎi hundred 20

LESSON 9 雙/双 shuāng pair 157

商 shāng commerce; business 145 鞋 xié shoes 187

店 diàn store; shop 51 換/换 huàn to exchange; to change 83

買/买 mǎi to buy 118 黑 hēi black 79

東/东 dōng east 53 雖/虽 suī although 162

西 xī west 180 然 rán like that; so 141

售 shòu sale; to sell 154 種/种 zhǒng/ kinds; types/ to plant 219 zhòng 貨/货 huò merchandise 85 挺 tǐng very; rather 170 員/员 yuán personnel 206 它 tā it 163 服 fú clothing; to serve 62 刷 shuā to brush; to swipe 157 件 jiàn MW (for items) 91 卡 kǎ card 100 襯/衬 chèn lining 38 收 shōu to receive; to accept 153 衫 shān shirt 145 過/过 SAMPLEguò to pass 75 顔/颜 yán face; countenance 192 付 fù to pay 63 色 sè color 144

黃/黄 huáng yellow 84

232 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 233 179 222 132 93 30 190 207 81 32 66 27 69 57 138 130 109 52 60 210 67 53 182 142 43 140 89 122 185 affair; task table; desk dumpling not; non- messy; rotten cake winter hot spring autumn; fall to stretch; to smooth outto add 156 administrative division; statestuffy/ depressed 219 to compare snow ice just now even more/ to alternate (conj.) warm cold LESSON 12 LESSON LESSON 11 LESSON wù zhuō pánjiǎo plate; dish diéfēi disc; saucer zāo gāo dōng xiàrè summer chūn qiū shū jiā zhōu mēn/ mèn xiàng portrait likeness; bǐ xuě yuánhuá garden bīng slippery; to slide gāng bàogèng/ gēng to report; newspaper ér qiěnuǎn (conj.) lěng

務/务 桌 盤/盘 餃/饺 碟 非 糟 糕 冬 夏 熱/热 春 秋 舒 加 州 悶/闷 像 比 雪 園/园 滑 冰 剛/刚 報/报 更 而 且 暖 冷

81 121 39 151 166 160 115 95 223 87 172 12 169 212 117 184 107 117 58 40 223 159 204 76 90 60 86 134 37 137 85 213 50 SAMPLE oneself strait; bay every; each special road; way tense; tight self to go out to rent to see off; to deliver vehicle; car iron green machine steam; gas LESSON 10 LESSON jǐ wān tè sùlù speed jǐn zì huāměi to spend; flower chéngshì city; town city; market zū sòng yóuràng post; mail to allow; to cause; to let 141 lánmá blue fán hemp; numb chū to bother; to trouble tiě zhànlǜ stand; station xiàn line; route chē huòzhě or dì/de (aux. verb) earth/ P jī piàochǎng ticket qì field hánjià cold fēi vacation to fly 灣/湾 緊/紧 自 己 速 路 市 特 每 城 讓/让 花 送 郵/邮 出 租 麻 煩/烦 線/线 藍/蓝 站 綠/绿 地 鐵/铁 或 者 汽 車/车 票 場/场 飛/飞 機/机 寒 假 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The 素 sù vegetarian; made from 160 楚 chǔ clear; neat 41 vegetables 關/关 guān to involve; to close 72 豆 dòu bean 55 係/系 xì to relate to 182 腐 fǔ rotten; to turn bad 62 海 hǎi sea 76 放 fàng to put; to place 59

肉 ròu meat; flesh 143 LESSON 13 碗 wǎn bowl 173 運/运 yùn to move 209 酸 suān sour 161 動/动 dòng to move 54 辣 là spicy 106 旁 páng side; edge 132 湯/汤 tāng soup 164 遠/远 yuǎn far 207 味 wèi flavor; taste 176 離/离 lí away from 109 精 jīng essence; refined 97 活­ huó to live; living 85 鹽/盐 yán salt 193 拿 ná to take; to get 125 賣/卖 mài to sell 119 次 cì MW (for occurrences) 43 完 wán finished 172 從/从 cóng from 44 青 qīng green; blue 139 直 zhí straight 217 渴 kě thirsty 103 往 wǎng toward; past 174 些 xiē MW (for indefinite amount); 186 some 南 nán south 127 够 gòu enough 71 拐 guǎi to turn 72 餓/饿 è hungry 56 哎 āi (exclamatory particle 22 to express surprise or 傅 fù tutor; instructor 64 dissatisfaction) 糖 táng sugar; candy 165 燈/灯 dēng light; lamp 49 醋 cù vinegar 44 右 yòu right 205 魚/鱼 yú fish 16 左 zuǒ left 224 甜 tián sweet 168 極/极 jí extremely; pole 86 LESSON 14 燒/烧 shāo to burn 146 表 biǎo surface; matrilineal relatives 32 牛 niú cow; ox 7 禮/礼 lǐ gift; ceremony 111 涼/凉 liáng cool 112 物 wù thing; matter 179 拌 bàn to mix 25 本 běn MW (for books); foundation 29 瓜 guā melon; gourd 72 飲/饮 yǐn to drink 200 米 mǐ uncooked rice 12 料 liào material 114 忘 SAMPLE wàng to forget 174 把 bǎ MW (for objects with handles) 23 帶/带 dài to bring; to take; to carry 45 蘋/苹 píng component in apple 136 清 qīng clear; clean; pure 139 蘋果/苹果

234 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 235 61 111 118 24 144 91 35 83 214 195 134 31 65 120 148 167 194 123 92 101 27 183 65 209 190 180 107 115 201 38 193 to spend; to take (effort) to move to sweep to protect; insurance risk; danger to rush for to cease; to rest to cease; to rest lazy to act; to perform to inspect needle slice MW (for tablet; slice); of MW (for complete courses of an an action or instances action) to feel; to sense body body itchy nimble; agile LESSON 16 LESSON fèi liǎmǎ (coll.) two bān (symbol indicating a number) sǎo jiànkāng healthy bǎo healthy; affluent xiǎn gǎn yuèxiū to exceed xī lǎn luàn randomly; messily yìnxiàng to print chéng appearance; shape elephant; yǎn to become; to succeed 185 jiǎn cháhuài check; to look up to zhēn bad yàopiàn medicine biàn gǎn màoshēn to belch; to emit tǐ yǎng mǐn

費/费 倆/俩 碼/码 搬 掃/扫 健 康 保 險/险 趕/赶 越 休 息 懶/懒 亂/乱 印 象 成 演 檢/检 查 壞/坏 針/针 藥/药 片 遍 感 冒 身 體/体 癢/痒 敏

33 208 55 166 159 196 35 184 165 44 156 24 156 70 112 207 193 96 29 223 52 47 116 125 109 220 219 93 114 218 171 SAMPLE box; case to die; (a complement indicating an extreme degree) eyeball nose mouth housemaid able to hear well; smart heat; summer class to belong to dog face eye pear certain place) to live (in a again heavy; serious/ to receive; to welcome floor multi-storied building; (of building) clock LESSON 15 LESSON xiāng tǎng to lie (down) téngsǐ to be painful yècè night toilet bìngyuàn illness; to become ill dù yard belly; abdomen dànlún egg mǔ ethics; moral principles jīng bí zuǐ dìng settled; decided gǒu liǎn yuányǎn round cōng shǔ bān shǔ jiē lóu zhōng tóu head; top lí zhù zhòng/ chóng 躺 厕 箱 死 夜 肚 疼 病 院 倫/伦 姆 定 蛋 鼻 嘴 眼 睛 臉/脸 圓/圆 屬/属 狗 暑 班 頭/头 聰/聪 樓/楼 鐘/钟 接 住 重 梨 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The LESSON 18 整 zhěng to put in order 215 胖 理 lǐ reason; in good order 110 pàng fat 132 怕 房 fáng house 59 pà to fear; to be afraid of 131 簡/简 旅 lǚ to travel 116 jiǎn simple 91

單/单 dān single 46 跑 LESSON 17 pǎo to run 133

步 bù step; pace 33 吵 chǎo to quarrel; noisy 38 受 shòu to bear 154 連/连 lián even; to link 111 拍 pāi to clap; racket 131 廣/广 guǎng wide; vast 73 籃/篮 lán basket 107 附 fù to attach; near 63 游 yóu to swim 203 套 tào MW (for suite or set) 165 泳 yǒng swimming 202 寓 yù residence 205 危 wēi danger 175 臥/卧 wò to lie (down) 178 淹 yān to submerge; to drown 192 廚/厨 chú kitchen 41 願/愿 yuàn wish; hope 208 衛/卫 wèi to guard; to protect 177 提 tí to lift 167 傢/家 jiā furniture 89 賽/赛 sài game; competition 143 具 jù tool; utensil 99 際/际 jì border; boundary 88 乾/干 gān dry 65 式 shì type; style 151 淨/净 jìng clean; pure 97 應/应 yīng/ should/ to respond 201 沙 shā sand 144 yìng 椅 yǐ chair 199 該/ 该 gāi should; ought to 64 架 jià shelf 90 腳/脚 jiǎo foot 92 安 ān calm; safe 22 踢 tī to kick 166 靜/静 jìng quiet 98 抱 bào to hold or carry in one’s arms 27 元 yuán MW (for unit of Chinese 206 壓/压 yā to press; to weigh down 191 currency); yuan 被 民 mín the people; folk 123 bèi by; quilt 28 擔/担 幣/币 bì currency; coin 30 dān to be burdened with 46 棒 差 chà to fall short of 36 bàng fantastic 26

押 yā to give as security 191

當/当 dāng to serve as; to be 47 LESSON 19

另 lìng other; another 114 司 sī to take charge of 158 准 實/实 zhǔn SAMPLEto allow 222 shí solid; reality 150 養/养 yǎng to raise 194 計/计 jì to count 87

趣 qù interest; interesting 141 劃/划 huà to plan; to divide 82

寵/宠 chǒng to dote on 40 父 fù father 63

236 The Way of Chinese Characters INDEXES 237 171 37 49 131 104 155 21 198 202 155 195 126 191 73 133 98 220 196 LEVEL 2 LEVEL grandpa; (respectful form of address for elderly men) to bake; to roast; to grillduck 102 *beer wine to entrust bundle; packagebag; sack; to exceed; to surpass 26 to climb; to ascend to cry; to weep uncle (a prefix) aunt thin; slim (of a person or animal) LESSON 20 LESSON yé nǎikǎo milk; (paternal) grandmother yā guànpí to be used to jiǔ zhùyèto aid to assist; leaf tuō bāo chāo dēng páikū plate; card; brand gùshū to attend to to look after; ā yí 71 yíngshòu to welcome

爺/爷 奶 烤 鴨/鸭 慣/惯 啤 酒 助 葉/叶 托 包 超 登 牌 哭 顧/顾 叔 阿 姨 迎 瘦

221 102 42 80 61 47 53 137 216 147 184 66 164 40 39 58 77 20 213 125 154 215 218 82 149 71 88 203 81 to turn window MW (for meal orders, jobs) SAMPLE fragrant harbor beginning; elementary to return thousand to lead; to guide to reserve; to book (a ticket, a hotel room, etc.) to sign proof; certificate mother head to transform; to influence ancient remains; ruins hùfèn door; household zhuǎn/ zhuàn kàochuāng to lean on; to rely on fǎn hángqīan to navigate zhé to fold xiāng gǎng táichū platform; deck chéng journey; schedule qiān zhèng shè organized body dǎo yóuhù to roam; to travel dìng to protect huà shènggǔ victory; wonderful jì mǔ shǒu zhèngzhì politics to govern; to manage 份 窗 戶/户 靠 折 轉/转 航 千 程 返 港 臺/台 初 社 香 簽/签 證/证 訂/订 遊/游 護/护 蹟/迹 導/导 勝/胜 古 治 化 首 政 母 The Way of Chinese Characters Chinese of Way The