Amazing Chinese Characters (463) Latitude - 经（經）

 The bronze script of character Latitude is

left is a radical of silk which means anything related to silk or cloth, the right one 

is a shuttle of weaver with vertical cotton or silk thread.

There is a dot near right bottom, which is an indicative sign to emphasize the point: the handle of the shuttle. Here is the key part of the shuttle. The character means manage, experience, bear, etc.

The big seal script of the character is

similar to the bronze script.

The small seal script of small seal script is

similar to older scripts.

The clerical script of character is

the left is silk radical, the right is the shuttle of weaving.

The traditional song typeface of the character is

經

Same as the clerical script.

The simplified song typeface of the character is

经

lost most of pictography.

The pinyin of the character is Jing1.

Amazing Chinese Characters (462) Han - 汉（漢）

Han is a very popular and very important character, which has many meanings: Han Dynasty, Han Nationality, Han Language (Standard Chinese), Han Cloth, etc. Han means China or Chinese related.

Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 220 A.D.) is one of two most powerful dynasties in China history, another one is Tang Dynasty (628 - 907 A.D.). Chinese have been proud of Han Dynasty, call themselves to be Han People, Chinese (language) to be Han language. 

Let's see the evolution of the character of Han.

The shell bone script of Han character has not been found. The earliest script for Han character is big seal script.

The left is Water (Post 13), the right is Viola (Post 460). The character means that a river with lush viola in the banks, which is Han River in north west China where was the richest, and the most developed area in ancient China. 

The small seal script of the character is

Similar to big seal script.

The clerical script of the character is

Left is Three-drops radical, the right is character Viola. 

The song typeface for traditional character is

漢

Same as clerical script.

The song typeface for simplified character is

汉

The left is not changed, but the right one becomes character Again (Post 102), which has nothing to do with violet. The simplification is unreasonable, totally just for reducing the number of strokes. 

The pinyin of the character is Han4.

Amazing Chinese Characters (461) Diligent - 勤

 The bronze script of character Diligent is

The left is character Viola - 堇 (Post 460), the right long curve is character Power - 力 (Post 168), which originally means a plow. A person who uses plow the violet and grass to plant crops,  is diligent.

In the ancient time, there were much less farm cattle, most of time, people pull the plow, very tough jon. Those people are diligent.

The dictionary of pictography explanation for this character is that a person who is sentenced to death working harder than normal people because it explains the left part 堇 as a hang and fire punishments. But I don't think that they are right explanations. 

The big seal script of the character is

Similar to the bronze script.

The small script of the character is

The left is similar to the corresponding part in older scripts. The right part is the long curve plow in the older scripts, but shorter and more straight.

The clerical script of the character is

The left part is similar to the left of older scripts, but the round circle becomes a rectangle, the two dots disappeared, and the falling strokes become horizontal line.

The song typeface of the character is

勤

Almost same as the clerical script.

The Pinyin of the character is Qin2.

Amazing Chinese Characters (460) Viola - 堇

 The bronze script of character Viola is

The top is the flower of viola, the middle are the leaves and stem of viola, the bottom is character Mountain.

The Dictionary of Pictography explanation is that the top is a person who shouts or cry while being hanged, and burnt on the bottom. However the bottom 

is the bronze script of character Mountain (Post 1), not the bronze script of character Fire (Post 26)

The lower part of top looks like a person, the top is like character Mouth (Post 16), but people point out that if a person is being hanged, he couldn't shout. But what is the top? I think that a person with a big container on his head for collecting violet on a mountain. The viola is eatable, people pick up them to be food when the natural disaster time.

The big seal script of the character is

which has no human head on the top, the bottom is character Soil (Post 223). It may be a drawing of the violet, but from a view we don't understand.

The small seal script of the character is

Similar to big seal script.

The clerical script of the character is 

All lines are straight now, which is the revolutionary change from the older scripts to clerical script.

The song typeface of the character is

堇

Almost same as the clerical script.

The pinyin of the character is Jin3.

This is a rarely used character, I normally don't introduce this kind characters. However, 堇 is so important in many important compound characters, including character 汉（漢）, which form 汉字 -  Chinese. We should know where the Chinese original is from. This is the reason I introduced this character in this post even though it is not very clear to get the true meaning of character in ancient Chinese mind. 

Amazing Chinese Characters (459) Slippery - 滑

 The big seal script of character Slippery (or Slip) is

The left is character Water (Post 13), the right is character Bone (Post 458). The Water means liquid, which could be oil. No matter it is oil or water, when the bone gets wet, it is slippery. There is another explanation by Su Shi - 苏轼 (Song Dynasty),  one of the most famous poet in Chinese history, he thinks that the character means "The bone of water", which is ice. Of course, ice is slippery. I like the explanation .

The small seal script of the character is

The left is Water, the right is Bone.

The clerical script of the character is

The left is Water Radical, the right is character Bone.

The song typeface is

滑

Almost same as clerical script.

Its Pinyin is Hua2.

Amazing Chinese Characters (458) Bone - 骨

 The shell bone scripts of character Bone are

The left two are big cow scapula which can be used in divination by writing some characters on it and burn it on fire to see the cracks on bone to predict the good or ill luck. 

The inside of the two bones (left two) are the cracks. 

The right two bones are ribs or leg/arm bones, which support and protect the body. 

The big seal script of the character is

The top is one of shell bone scripts of character Bone above: ribs or leg/arm bones, the bottom is character Meat (Post 252). Meat means body parts, bones are belong to body. 

The small seal script of the character is

The top are bones, but because they are bent because there is no straight lines in small seal script. The bottom is character Meat which is like character Moon (Please see Post 252 for explanation). 

The clerical script of the character is 

Similar to small seal script.

The song typeface of the character is 

骨

Very similar to clerical script.

Its pinyin is Gu3.

Amazing Chinese Characters (457) All - 皆

  The bronze script of character All is

The top is two person, the bottom is character 曰 - Say （Post 341). All people say something at the same time.

In comparison with character Order from King (Post 455)

Only one person is saying (making order), implying that all others are listening, which is King. 

The big seal script of the character is

Similar to bronze script.

The small seal script of the character is

The top is two person facing right, the bottom is not like character Say - 曰 below, the difference is big.

It has some similarity to character White below, even though not the same 

I don't know the reason.

The clerical script of the character is 

The top is character 比 - compete (Post 162), the bottom is character White (Post 456), which is from its small seal script, but go even further to White-alike to White character. It is away from the original meaning of the character. 

The song typeface of the character is 

皆

Same as the clerical script. 

The pinyin of the character is Jie1.