[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Society-and-Culture \ #Literature-and-Education # Character book ## Components [[丨 (gǔn)]] [[丶 (zhǔ)]] [[横折 ((héng zhé))]] [[横折钩 ((héng zhé gōu))]] ## Meaning The Chinese character 书 (shū) means "book" or "to write." It's often used in words related to writing, such as 书籍 (shūjí - books) or 书写 (shūxiě - to write). ## History Originally, in Oracle Bone Script (甲骨文, jiǎgǔwén), it was represented as a pictograph of a hand holding a writing brush or tool, symbolizing the action of writing or inscribing characters on bones or tortoise shells. As Chinese script evolved, the character transitioned through various script styles: - In Bronze Script (金文, jīnwén), the depiction of the hand and writing tool became more abstract and stylized. - Seal Script (篆书, zhuànshū) further simplified the character, with a more geometric representation of the hand and writing tool. - In Clerical Script (隶书, lìshū), the character took on a more standardized form, with further stylization of the hand and writing tool. - Finally, in Regular Script (楷书, kǎishū), the character underwent further refinement, with strokes and proportions adjusted to create a form similar to its modern printed version. Throughout its evolution, the character 书 (shū) retained its fundamental meaning of "book" or "to write." Today, it is commonly used in Chinese to refer to written texts, books, or the act of writing. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ![[书oracular 1.svg]] ### Bronze Script ![[书 bronce.svg]] ### Seal Script ![[书 seal.svg]] ### Clerical Script ![[书 cle.svg]] ### Regular Script ![[书 reg.svg]]