Lesson 19 mountain 山, immortal being 仙, Buddha 佛
Lesson 19 mountain 山, immortal being 仙, Buddha 佛
We will introduce two Chinese radicals today, the Human radical 亻 which is normally added on the left side of a Chinese character. The second radical is Mountain 山, it’s developed from a hieroglyphic symbol for hill, mountain (with 3 peaks).
山
mountain
pronunciation: Shān
Look at the animation of the strokes for Mountain symbol 山, the strokes are either horizontal or vertical bars, pretty easy to write, isn’t it?
Now the next symbol is 仙, the combination of the Human radical 亻 plus Mountain 山. What does that mean? The ancient Chinese people believed that some taoists lived in deep mountains practicing their “Chi氣, Qi气” in order to become immortal beings. That’s why this 仙 symbol is Human radical 亻 plus Mountain 山, and it turns a noun, with several meanings in Chinese, such as “god, deity, fairy, faerie, immortal being.”
仙
immortal being
pronunciation: Xiān
By the way, it’s not hard to write this 仙 symbol. This symbol is also good for tattoo design idea.
The next symbol is Buddha 佛, the writing strokes are kind of complicated. It’s the Human radical 亻 on the left side, plus the 弗 character. What is the 弗 character? you may ask. It’s an ancient Chinese symbol, the meaning is “NOT” in ancient Chinese. So use your imagination, the combination of Buddha 佛 is the Human radical 亻 plus the NOT 弗 character - it turns non-human, Supreme Being life form, the final nirvana of a Buddha.
佛
Buddha
pronunciation: Fú
Now let’s learn the 2-character Chinese word with the immortal being 仙 symbol and other symbol we have learned before.
仙女fairy, nymph
仙女fairy, nymph = 仙(immortal being) + 女(woman)
recall the Woman symbol 女 from Lesson 13
女
woman, female
pronunciation: Nǚ
Just make sure you practice all the Chinese symbols in our previous lessons. You may check Lesson 13 for more details with this Woman symbol 女.
How about another 2-character Chinese word, with the Mountain symbol 山? Here we got one:
山人hermit, recluse(classic literary writing)
山人hermit, recluse = 山(mountain) + 人(people)
That means the hermit isolates himself in the mountains. This ancient Chinese word 山人(hermit, recluse) is also good for tattoo.
Remember, the immortal being symbol 仙, is the combination of the Human radical 亻 plus Mountain 山. Though 山人(hermit) is also the combination of 山(mountain) and 人(human, people), he is not 仙(immortal being) yet. Maybe you can just call such 山人 people as "half-god" 半仙.
I think that’s enough for today’s lesson. Thanks for watching and practicing!
Review and further study
山
mountain
pronunciation: Shān
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…
山人
hermit, recluse
pronunciation: shān rén
with pronunciation play button, related Chinese words, and more…
人
human
pronunciation: Rén
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…
仙
immortal being
pronunciation: Xiān
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…
仙女
fairy, nymph
pronunciation: xiān nǚ
with pronunciation play button, related Chinese words, and more…
女
woman, female
pronunciation: Nǚ
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…
佛
Buddha
pronunciation: Fú
with pronunciation play button, calligraphic strokes animation, different calligraphic styles, related Chinese words, and more…
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