Amazing Chinese Characters (553) Elder Brother - 兄

 The big seal script of character Elder Brother is

The top is character Mouth, under which is a person: One person speaks. In 3500+ years ancient time, among the brothers, only the elder brother was the first one who was acknowledged by community when he was 20 years old, he was granted an official name, he could vote, and took responsibility. Even he was not 20, he was the only one who could talk to visitors when parents were not at home.

The bronze script of character Elder Brother is

Similar to the shell bone script.

The small seal script of the character is

The bottom is changed to separated two legs.

The clerical script of character Elder Brother is

The bottom is character Child. The bottom of older scripts are character Person who normally is adult because in the ancient time, the adults could vote, take actions, have responsibility. The difference between elder brother and younger brother was great. As time passed, the difference is not so great in adults, only when they are children in a family.

The pinyin of the character is Xiong1.