[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Natural-World \ #Plants # 米 mǐ rice ## Components [[米 (mǐ)]] ## Meaning The Chinese character 米 (mǐ) originally referred to rice but now represents "rice" as a grain and "meter" as a unit of length ## History . Its evolution began in the Oracle Bone Script, where 米 depicted a pictograph of rice grains. During the Bronze Inscription period, 米 became more stylized, but still recognizable as rice grains. In the Seal Script, 米 became more angular and less detailed. The Clerical Script simplified 米 even further, resembling two vertical lines connected by short horizontal strokes. In modern Regular Script, 米 is further simplified, resembling two vertical lines with a single horizontal line connecting them. Throughout its evolution, 米 has retained its basic meaning of "rice" while becoming progressively simpler and more stylized. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ![[米 mǐ - Ora.svg]] ### Bronze Script ？ ### Seal Script ![[米 mǐ - Sello.svg]] ### Clerical Script ![[米 mǐ - Cle.svg]] ### Regular Script ![[米 mǐ - Reg.svg]]