How to decoding Chinese --1 象形文字解码法
How to decoding Chinese
1. Decoding pictograph
Pictographs are mainly composed of codes. What is code? Simply speaking, a code is a sign. Character codes are character signs. Pictographic codes are made up of graphic signs, sound signs, meaning signs and indication signs. To read a pictograph needs to read the codes in it. Once a character is decoded, its meaning is clear, then we can understand why our predecessors used those pictographs.
For example, “美”the oracle bone inscription “美” looks like a standing man with three layers of feathers decorating his head, more like a warrior with beautiful head decorations, also like a compere governing a sacral ceremony. Another oracle bone inscription “美” seems to be a man preening himself using his two hands. These codes indicate that “美” has a meaning of “beauty” and “nicety”, which not only refers to one’s outside beauty but inner side as well. Used as a verb, “美” means “decorate”, “make up” and “prettify”. Our predecessors added “女” to the left side of “美” to describe a woman’s beauty. The book 《Word And Expression》 gave it a meaning of “good-looking”, specifically used for ladies, for beautiful ladies, and pronounced “Mei” which has an opposite meaning to “丑”.The meaning can be extended to “luck”, “good thing” and “satisfactory” etc. Ordinary people knows what “Mei” means, however, some dictionaries or TV programs explained that “美” is made up of two parts, the upper part is “羊”，meaning sheep, and the lower part is “大”, meaning big, so “美” is a big sheep. These dictionaries and TV programs made such explanations based on Shen Xu’s explanation: “美” means “sweet”, is related to “sheep” and “big”. Sheep is a major food source of the six meat animals. “羊” and “膳” shared the same meaning. It should be said that “sweet”, “good meal” and “good food” are the extending meaning of “Mei”, not real meaning of it. The above explanation is certainly not the best because it is quite unilateral and one swallow does make a summer.
美：甲骨文的“美”字象一个站立的男子，头上有三重羽饰，真像一个头冠华美的武士，或像一个古代主持祭祀的主持人。还有一个甲骨文的美字在头饰下面象有两只手在进行整理打扮。这些密码说明美的真正含义是美丽、美好，既指人的外在美，也指人的内在美。作动词用则指装饰、打扮、美化。假借指好事、好物、令人满意等。至于对女性的美，古人是在美字前再加一个女字来界定的，《说文解字》的注释是：“色好也。从女，从美，美亦声。”美与“丑”相对。美的含义是什么，普通老百姓是比较清楚的，可是现在在一些古汉字辞典或电视台的说文解字节目中，仍把美字解释为上是羊，下是大，羊子肥大就是美。他们的依据是许慎对美的另一注释：“美，甘也。从羊，从大。羊在六畜主给膳也。羊与善同义。”应当说甘美、甜美、美膳、美食只是美的引申义，而不是美的真正含义。美好、美丽、美善应当是美的正确解读。
爱：在甲骨文中还未发现有爱字出现。篆书的爱字是由一颗包着的心与两只分别置于心字上下的脚构成，表示两个人相爱，或人与人之间的爱，并且直接含有性爱之义。许慎说：“爱，惠爱也。从心，旡声。”心是形符，上下两只脚也是形符，而不应该是声符，也就是说“爱”不是形声字应当是象形字，这是我个人的看法，对不对？尚须切磋讨论。
How to decoding Chinese--2 会意解析法
2. Analysing the ideographs
There is a portion of ideographs in pictographs, it is difficult indeed to read them. We can analyse and understand their meaning first using some indications, a full understanding can only be achieved through thorough examination combining other methods, which is quite true when we try to read “敬”. So far we have not found the oracle bone inscription that is equivalent to “敬”. The seal style “敬” is combined by “苟” and “攴”. What meaning does this combination have? It is inexplicable. Not long ago, I spotted a monochrome abbrivated ink work on a hotel wall in Chengdu which illustrated “敬” as a woman kneeling down to show her respect. The visualization of this work is vivid, but carefully examining the work, I found something is missing, there is nothing for “攴”. Later I studied the oracle bone insription “苟” in details and understand that “敬” is something like a hand holding a teaching rod and facing an ill-mannered pupil. The meaning is to let someone respect. Shen Xu expained that “敬” is solemn having something to do with respect. In another explanation, he refered “敬” as respect which has something to do with heart. Shen Xu’s above expanations are correct.
2、会意解析法：会意字的解读确有一定难度，只有用会意解析法首先了解字的含义，再联系其它部分加以解析，才能最后弄清。例如解读“敬”字，我们就有这样有体会。我们至今还没有找到甲骨文的“敬”字，甲骨文只有“苟”字。篆书中“敬”字是由苟与攴合成的，这种合成表示什么意思，确实令人费解。不久前我在成都一家宾馆墙上看到一幅以敬字为题的写意画，画一个女子跪在地上对人表示尊敬。我觉得这幅画非常形象，但仔细一看，发现还少了一半，缺了攴字的含义。直到后来我认真解读苟字的甲骨文，才理解到敬字象一只手拿着教鞭，对着一个跪在地上两眼斜视、态度随意的人，意思是用教鞭要求态度苟且的人对他人要敬重。许慎说：“敬，肃也。从攴，从苟。”他另一注是：“敬也，从心，从敬。”我认为许慎这两个注释是正确而完美的。
How to decoding Chinese--3 形声解析法
How to decoding Chine
3. Analysing the phonograms
The oracle bone scriptions of three thousand years old are mainly pictographs, the phonograms account for only about 20 percent. Until Qin and Han Dynasties of 2000 years ago, the phonograms were dramatically increased. In 《Word And Expression》, the phonograms were about 82 percent. In modern Chinese, there are about 90 percent phonograms. It can be seen that it is important to analyse the phonograms. The phonograms have three advantages. Firstly, they have elements indicating pronounciation, one 70-80 percent knows how to read them simply by first look; secondly, the character structure is simple, there is an element for form and also an element for pronounciation, it is easy to analyse; thirdly, there are rules applied to more complicated phonograms. The following methods apply: a) the sound element is parent, the form element step mother ( the sound element is prior to the form element); b) to catch the bandits, first catch the ringleader, to know how to read, first know what is parent element (the form element contains real meaning); c) a scholar is shrewd enough to just read the half character (only for some phonograms).
3、形声解析法：三千多年前的甲骨文以象形字为主，形声字仅占20%，发展到二千年前的秦汉时期，形声字大量增加，《说文解字》中，形声字占82%，现代汉语中形声字已占90%。由此可知解析形声字该是多么重要。形声字有三个优点：一是它有表声部份，一读就能知晓七八分；二是组字方法简单，一形一声，解析比较容易；三是较复杂的形声字有主有次，有规律可循。解析的方法是：①声旁是生母，形旁是晚娘（声在形先的字）；②擒贼先擒王，认字先认娘（从形旁诠释字义）；③秀才生得尖，认字认半边（只对部份形声字而言）。当然，有的形声字解读比较困难，需要具体分析和研究。
3、形声解析法：三千多年前的甲骨文以象形字为主，形声字仅占20%，发展到二千年前的秦汉时期，形声字大量增加，《说文解字》中，形声字占82%，现代汉语中形声字已占90%。由此可知解析形声字该是多么重要。形声字有三个优点：一是它有表声部份，一读就能知晓七八分；二是组字方法简单，一形一声，解析比较容易；三是较复杂的形声字有主有次，有规律可循。解析的方法是：①声旁是生母，形旁是晚娘（声在形先的字）；②擒贼先擒王，认字先认娘（从形旁诠释字义）；③秀才生得尖，认字认半边（只对部份形声字而言）。当然，有的形声字解读比较困难，需要具体分析和研究。
How to decoding Chinese--4 字族解析法：
4. Analyzing Group Characters
The basic element of pictographs is the form or shape. The shape can be categorized, for example, there are mountains, rivers, wood, stones, soil, fields, gold, the sun, the moon, light, rain and fires in the nature. The head, hands, feet, ears, eyes, mouth, heart, brain, nose, flesh and bones etc are related to human body. In the animal world, we can see pig, ox, horse, sheep, dog, and deer etc and etc. These words are less related in other languages, but in Chinese, they are related and orderly combined. For example, the character “木” is used as the form or shape sign in many character groups. 1) Plant part: wood（木）, woods (林), forest (森), root (根), branch (枝), treetop (梢), leave (叶), stem (杆) and twig (条) etc. 2）Arbor: pine (松), cypress (柏), cedar (杉), poplar (杨), pagoda tree (槐), willow (柳), camphor (樟), sandelbaum (檀)， oak (栎), mulberry (桑), laurel (桂). 3）Fruit tree: peach (桃), plum (李), apricot (杏), tangerine (橘), orange (柑), mandarin (桔), persimmon (柿), pear (梨), fruit (果). 4) Wooden things: cupboard (柜), cabinet (橱), trunk (箱), grid (栅), doorsill (槛),fence (栏), desk (桌), chair (椅), shelf (架), ladder (梯) and oar (桨) etc. 5) Actions related to “木”: look (相), check (查), examine (检), verify (核), proofread (校), regular script (楷), 、横、extract (榨), dye (染) etc. Once this analysing method is grasped , it can be repeatedly used for recognising and identifying pictographs with less time spending and better effectiveness. Jingyan County Education Bureau of Sichuan Province used this kind of method to teach students Chinese characters, most year three students were proved to be equivalent to the year six students of traditional teaching method. The Ministry of Education once dispatched an officer to exmanine the teaching method, unfortunately it was not widely adopted. On 29th of March 1994, I wrote a poem “ZHE GU TIAN” to appraise Jingyan County’s pioneer work on group character study.
4、字族解析法：象形文字的基本要素是“形”，形是可以分类的，例如：大自然有山、水、木、石、土、田、金、日、月、光、雨、火等；人体形态有头、手、足、耳、目、口、心、脑、鼻、皮、肉、骨等；动物有豕、牛、马、羊、犬、鹿、豸等等。这些分门别类的字词在外国语中相互很少关联，而在汉语中却呈现出许多互联的、有序的、有机的组合。例如一个木字，以它为形符的至少可以分出：
① 部位与形态：木、林、森、根、枝、梢、叶、杆、条等
4、字族解析法：象形文字的基本要素是“形”，形是可以分类的，例如：大自然有山、水、木、石、土、田、金、日、月、光、雨、火等；人体形态有头、手、足、耳、目、口、心、脑、鼻、皮、肉、骨等；动物有豕、牛、马、羊、犬、鹿、豸等等。这些分门别类的字词在外国语中相互很少关联，而在汉语中却呈现出许多互联的、有序的、有机的组合。例如一个木字，以它为形符的至少可以分出：
① 部位与形态：木、林、森、根、枝、梢、叶、杆、条等
② 乔木：松、柏、杉、杨、槐、柳、樟、檀、栎、桑、桂等；
③ 果木：桃、李、杏、橘、柑、桔、柿、梨、果等；
④ 木制器物：柜、橱、箱、栅、槛、栏、桌、椅、架、梯、桨等；
⑤ 与木字相关的动作：相、查、检、核、校、楷、横、榨、染等。
只要掌握了字族文字解析法，解读象形文字，就可以举一反三，甚至举一反十，收到事半功倍之效。四川省井研县教育局上世纪八十年代在该县采用这种方法教习汉字，大多读小学三年级的学生就能考过六年级的课程，教育部曾派人去考察，表示赞赏，可惜这种教学汉语的方法未能推广。1994年3月29日我曾填了一首“鹧鸪天”词盛赞井研倡导字族文字：“汉字形声源流长，组成字族乃良方。井研教育集成册，开启智慧价难量。百十字，组一章，同音同义觅偏旁，六年课程三年竣，育得神州满园香”。
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