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Introduction
The resemblance between a pictographic character and its object helps learners remember the Chinese characters. Each pictographic character in this column is presented with pictures and detailed explanations. For instance, in 休 xiū to rest, the radical on the left, 亻means "a person", and the part on the right, 木, means wood or tree, so the meaning comes from the idea "a person is leaning against a tree to have a rest."
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火 huŏ
吉 jí
安 ān
包 bāo
本 bĕn
比 bĭ
笔 bĭ
冰 bīng
城 chéng
出 chū
从 cóng
东 dōng
丝 sī       
Explanation:silk
This was a pictogram of two reels of silk threads tied together （ ）, meaning cocoon silk. Because silk thread is very fine and thin , 丝was later used to describe things that were very delicate. Moreover, ...
水 shuĭ       
Explanation:water
   The original character was formed by a stream in the middle （ ） with dots on both sides representing drops of water. In the inscriptions on oracle bones, the number of “drop” of w...
双 shuāng       
Explanation:two; twin; both; dual
The original form of the character 双 was a complex one, the upper part depicts two “birds” （  ） with their beaks turned to the left, sitting on a “right hand” （
生 shēng       
Explanation:grow
    The original character 生 was a very vivid pictographic representation of a growing seedling （ ）: the horizontal stroke at the bottom of the character indicates the land; on the land a s...
身 shēn       
Explanation:body
This character originally meant “pregnant”, and depicted a human figure with a prominent belly and one leg thrust forward for support and balance （ ）. The modern form means the “human bo...
上 shàng       
Explanation:above; upper
The form of
山 shān       
Explanation:mountain
The earlier form was clearly a pictographic representation of three peaks standing side by side （  ）, creating the form and shape of a large mountain. Later, for the sake of convenience in writing, t...
日 rì       
Explanation:sun

（   ）is a typical pictographic character in the ancient form, and we can recognize its similarity to the sun very easily.
人 rén       
Explanation:human being; person; people
The earliest known pictographs of this very important character showed the figu...
去 qù       
Explanation:go; leave
去was comprised of two parts in the oracle bones: the upper part was originally a person （  ）, and the lower part was a mouth （