The mascot for the Shanghai World Expo is a little fellow shaped like 人 (rén) and named Haibao (海宝), meaning “Sea Treasure.” The character 海 (hǎi) has a long history, and a lot of fun—and even poetic—uses. 海 is made up of two parts. The first part, 氵, is the water radical, and any character […]
Sunshine on runny snow banks, small buds rustling in the trees, the fresh smell of new grass, mud, squishy ground, rubber boots… don’t tell me you hate spring. Well, the charm of Chinese works its magic here again as it takes all the fun of this glorious season and bundles it up into one syllable. […]
虎 is a pictograph, and it once looked like a dignified, upright tiger. In oracle bone inscriptions, the tiger is clearly recognizable, standing vertically, with striped fur, sharp claws, and a long tail. You can see its huge mouth and sharp fangs.One oracle bone character, referring to an ancient state institution called “fangguo,” showed a […]
