Amazing Chinese Characters (803) Old Man - 叟

The shell bone script of character Old Man is

The top is roof, the middle is character Fire (Post 26), the bottom is a hand. In the ancient time, fire was the most important thing to people. There were no matches, how to create fire and keep it burning is very critical, therefore, only the ones who had long experience in this field could do the job, normally it was the old men, were in charge of the job. 

Even though the character means Old Man, but the original meaning imply "The person who is in charge" too. We will see the meaning in character Sister in Law - 嫂. 

The bronze script of character Old Man is

The top is roof, the fire was kept under roof (may not inside of room) to avoid raining. There character Fire is under the roof, the hand on the bottom controls the fire. 

The small seal script of character Old Man is

Similar to big seal script.

The clerical script of character Old Man is

The top is changed in a unknown way, no idea where it is from. The bottom is character Again - 又 (Post 102).

The song typeface of character Old Man is

Very similar to clerical script.

The Pinyin of character 叟 is Sou3.