pictographic character; one of the Six Scripts
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
pictographic character; one of the Six Categories of Chinese Characters (Liu Shu), referring to characters formed by drawing the shape of the object they represent
technicalIn Chinese philology, this represents the most primitive form of character creation. Classic examples include 日 (sun), 月 (moon), 山 (mountain), 木 (tree), and 水 (water). The ancient forms often looked almost like small drawings.
Xiàng象
xíng形
shì是
Hàn汉
zì字
zào造
zì字
fǎ法
zhōng中
zuì最
yuán原
shǐ始
de的
yī一
zhǒng种
fāng方
fǎ法
。
Pictographic representation is the most primitive method in the formation of Chinese characters.
“
Rì日
”
hé和
“
yuè月
”
dōu都
shì是
diǎn典
xíng型
de的
xiàng象
xíng形
zì字
。
“Sun” and “moon” are both typical pictographic characters.
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Gǔ古
dài代
de的
xiàng象
xíng形
wén文
zì字
wǎng往
wǎng往
huà画
de得
hěn很
xiàng像
shí实
wù物
。
Ancient pictographic characters were often drawn to look very much like the actual objects.
Liù六
shū书
bāo包
kuò括
xiàng象
xíng形
、
zhǐ指
shì事
、
huì会
yì意
、
xíng形
shēng声
、
zhuǎn转
zhù注
hé和
jiǎ假
jiè借
。
The Six Scripts include pictographs, indicative symbols, associative compounds, pictophonetic characters, mutual explanatory characters, and phonetic loan characters.