Lesson 09 力 the force symbol

Lesson 09 the force symbol

This symbol is en element related with symbolic significance such as force, strength, work, power, function, etc., and we are going to use this force symbol , to learn the combined ideogram of some specific Chinese characters like , , and . 



force
pronunciation:

I use two colors to illustrate two different strokes for the writing of this force symbol . As shown in the animation, the first step (red strokes) is drawing an angle, start drawing a horizontal bar from left to right, then turning downward to draw an angle a little bit less than 90 degree (check the red strokes in the figure), thus the downward vertical bar is slightly tilted to the left-hand side.

Attention, there is a round-hook shape at the end (bottom) of the downward stroke (red angled strokes), you can just draw it as a little hook ˇ at the end of the stroke, and this kind of tiny hook appears all the time in Chinese writing.

The second (blue) stroke is a curve 丿, a falling left stroke, drawing from top to bottom, with a little curvature bending left.


hot, popular
pronunciation: Hāng

The next symbol is a modern word. It’s the composition of (big, Lesson 06) on the top, and the force symbol underneath. 

This new symbol could be considered as a fashionable slang word (hot, popular) about something hot is currently happening.

The classic meanings of could be a verb: “to tamp, pound” or an adjective: “sturdy, brawny, yet clumsy.” Whatever, young people nowadays just use the new version of to interpret something hot and popular.




merit, achievements
pronunciation: Gōng

This symbol is the combination of (work, Lesson 03) with the force symbol . Please look at the animation and check the writing strokes of on the left part, and the strokes of on the right part.

The symbol is a combined ideogram of forming Chinese character, since the left part related to work, labor, and the right part related to force, strength. Such an associative compound has general meanings like merit, achievement, and credit for doing something.

For example, 大功, this 2-character Chinese word 大功 is the combination of (big, great, Lesson 06) plus (merit, achievements), then the word 大功 becomes a noun as great merit, extraordinary service for someone has ever done.

The next 2-character word is 功夫, kung fu. Yes, it’s the Chinese martial art 功夫 kung fu! It’s the combination of (merit, achievements) and (Lesson 06), and I think this word 功夫 might be a modern Chinese word which had been translated back from the martial arts movies of Bruce Lee or someone older in Hollywood. 



man, male
pronunciation: Nán

The next symbol is also a combined ideogram. As shown in the animation, the upper part is the symbol (farmland) and the lower part is the force symbol .

Maybe the writing strokes of the upper part (farmland) is a little bit complicated for you so far. We will introduce the symbol (farmland) as the next symbol, please take your time to learn it along the way .

The symbol (man, male) can be used as a noun or adjective in Chinese. For example, the 2-character word 男人, a man, grown man, it’s the combination of (man, male) and (human, Lesson 06).

The second example is another 2-character 男兒 (traditional), 男儿 (simplified), it’s the combination of (man, male) with  (son, traditional, Lesson 07), or  (son, simplified, Lesson 07). The word 男兒 or 男儿 means a man calling himself with the reason of manliness.



field, farmland
pronunciation: Tián

This symbol is a pictograph, as shown in the animation, a big square (Lesson 04) outside, and a (Lesson 02) inside the square. The is a hieroglyphic symbol created by ancient Chinese, imagine it as a farmland with 4 pieces of growing areas, separated by ridges between the fields, these ridges represent the symbol within the hieroglyph.

Of course, you can just to draw a square plus a cross inside the square to form the symbol whatever you like.

There is something about the complicated strokes in the animation of this (field, farmland) symbol, the drawing order which I’d learned since about age 4-5 and my dad told me that’s the standard way to write something like it.

The “standard way” my dad told me is: drawing the first (Lesson 04 for the symbol ), then drawing the (Lesson 02) inside the space, and the final stroke is the horizontal bar at the bottom of to seal it as an enclosed shape.

I must thank my dad who had been teaching me how to write and read these basic Chinese characters (in calligraphy with brush pen!) around my age 4-5, and I kept learning from him for years since I could not attend school regularly because I got some kind of bone disease at that time. My dad passed away on 11th October, 2011, and I wish he will be glad from Heaven, to know how I am teaching his “standard way” of writing strokes with the GIF animations in this blog.


Thanks for your reading and practicing, any positive feedback is welcome.


Review and further study


force
pronunciation:
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…


hot, popular
pronunciation: Hāng
with pronunciation play button, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…


merit, achievements
pronunciation: Gōng
with pronunciation play button, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…

大功
great merit, extraordinary service
pronunciation: dà gōng

功夫
kung fu
pronunciation: gōng fū
with pronunciation play button, related Chinese words, and more…


man, male
pronunciation: Nán
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…

男人
a man, grown man
pronunciation: nán rén
with pronunciation play button, related Chinese words, and more…

男兒
(traditional)
男儿
(simplified)
a man calling himself
(with the reason of manliness)
pronunciation: nán ér


field, farmland
pronunciation: Tián
with pronunciation play button, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…



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