Born as a bronze-age image of hands straining a si

Born as a pictograph of scissors slicing silk, 绝

Born as a pictograph of twisted silk threads, 细 e

This six-stroke character began as a bronze-age im

Originally a silk-bound scroll label, 纪 evolved i

This 'sugar' character hides a geopolitical secret

Born from 'rice' + 'vital green,' 精 started as th

Born from ancient grain fields, this character loo

Born from bamboo slips bound for tax rolls, 籍 evo

Born from bamboo tallies split in two, this 'signa

Born from bamboo slips bound with cord, 篇 isn’t

This 'take care of' character began as a bamboo fl

Born from bamboo + root, this character visually m

Born as split bamboo tallies verifying military or

This character began as twin runners racing side-b

Originally a kneeling servant in oracle bones, 童

Born as a ritual badge on ancient robes, 章 evolve

This 'standing-at-the-end' character started as 'c

Its top is a cave (穴), its bottom a collapsed bod

This 'window' began as Bronze Age lattice-work —

Looks like a cave with a number nine inside — bec

Originally a pictograph of stored grain, 积 still

This 'slightly' character hides an ancient rice st

Born from ancient land surveys of rice fields, 程

A time unit built on rice — this 'second' began a

This ‘branch of study’ character grew from ancie

Originally a pictograph of ripe, bowing grain — t

This character began as a ritual wine vessel on an

One character, two tones: jīn = silent endurance;

This 'blessing' character began as a kneeling sham

This 'show' character began as a sacred altar in o

Though it looks like 'broad' (广), 矿 is all about

This 'foundation' character isn’t abstract philos

Born in the 19th century to translate 'yard', this

This 'confirmed' character hides a stone tablet an

Though it looks like 'stone + page,' 硕 actually m

Originally a pictograph of a bound servant smashed

This 'grind' character hides a scholar’s inkstone

It began as three identical people drawn side-by-s

This 'eye + small' character began as 'self-examin