A Chinese Character Across 3,000 Years
一个穿越三千年的汉字
Civilization could not have developed without water
Over thousands of years of living alongside it
people needed not only to understand water
but also to find a way to record it
Thousands of years ago
on the land we now call China
how did people record “water”?
文明的发展离不开水
在与水相处的漫长过程中
人们不仅需要认识它
也需要把它记录下来
数千年前
在这片今天被我们称为“中国”的土地上
人们是怎样把「水」记录下来的？
01
This is one form of the character 「水」
written more than 3,000 years ago
Seen through modern eyes
it almost looks like a highly distilled logo—
using only a few lines
to evoke the image of flowing water
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 34674
这是三千多年前
人们书写「水」时留下的一种字形
如果用今天的眼光来看
它几乎就像一个高度概括的 logo——
只用很少的线条
就让人联想到流动的水
02
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 22288
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 10154
当然
那时候「水」的写法并不完全统一
今天的学者通常把这些早期字形理解为对水流形态的描绘
但其中一些笔画究竟表现了什么
至今并没有完全一致的解释
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 10157
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 20615
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 33356
Of course, the way 「水」 was written at that time
was not completely standardized
Today
scholars generally interpret these early forms
as depictions of flowing water
But there is still no complete agreement
on what some of those strokes represent.
03
But if our purpose
is not to reconstruct exactly how this form was created
more than 3,000 years ago
but to learn how to recognize
and write the character
then I want to ask you a different question:
Yes, you
但如果我们的目的
不是考证三千多年前的人究竟如何创造这个字形
而是学习如何认识、书写这个汉字
那么我想问你另一个问题：
对，就是你
你看见了什么？
中间这条线
两边这些笔画
让你想到什么？
河流？水滴？水花？
还是水中露出的石头？
What do you see?
The line in the middle
the strokes on both sides—
what do they remind you of?
A river?
Drops of water?
Splashes?
Or stones rising above the surface of the water?
04
你的答案并不能解释
古人究竟从什么角度创造了这个字形
但它可以属于你
因为当你开始用自己的眼睛理解这些线条时
它们就不再只是几笔陌生的符号
你的观察和理解
正是帮助你记住这个汉字的最好方
05
Your answer cannot tell us
exactly how this form was conceived in ancient times
But it can belong to you
Because once you begin to understand these lines through your own eyes
they are no longer just a few unfamiliar strokes
Your own observation and understanding
are the best tools for remembering this character
Of coursethis is the form of 「水」(Water)
from more than 3,000 years ago
Carved into bone or shell
Oracle Bone Script
Heji 34674
Cast in bronze
Over the millennia that followed
as writing materials, tools, habits
and the shapes of Chinese characters continued to change
「水」(Water) also changed its appearance again and again
Some changes were obvious
Others were only subtle adjustments between strokes
Written with brush on bamboo
Written with brush on paper
Clerical Transformation
Mawangdui
当然
这是三千多年前「水」的字形
在随后的漫长岁月里
随着书写材料、工具、书写习惯
以及文字形态本身不断变化
「水」也一次次地改变着自己的样子
有些变化很显
有些只是笔画之间细微的调整
06
Clerical Transformation
Yinqueshan Han Slips
Clerical Transformation
Jianshui Jinguan Han Slips
Clerical Script
Cao Quan Stele
Over time
these forms gradually became
the character we know today
它们一路向前
逐渐成为我们今天熟悉的样子
shuǐ
water
水
More than 3,000 years later
we still write 「水」
三千多年过去了我们仍然在写「水」
Now, it’s your turn
现在，轮到你了
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