Learn one Chinese Character a day – 小

Today we examine a new Chinese character 小. What could be its meaning? A better way is to check its Oracle Script and Clerical Script, as shown below: (screenshot taken from http://chinese-linguipedia.org )

Learn one Chinese Character a day – 小

From its Oracle Scripts and , it is believed that Chinese ancestors used 3 or 4 dots to mean sands at the river bank. As sands is very small, 小 is then used to mean Small. We will later show you one proof which supports this guess.

And from its Warring State Script till its Clerical Script  , we can also explain that is composed of 八 and， 八 originally meant Divide, in this way means to divide  to make it smaller. So means Small.

That is it. Now let us enjoy a Chinese calligraphy with 小 inside:

会当凌绝顶一览众山小

As we have learnt 小 and 大, can you guess what could be the meaning of 尖 then?