Though only 4 strokes, 认 packs millennia of meani

Though it means 'dialect', 话's ancient core is 's

This 'see'-based character doesn’t mean 'look' —

This ‘look’ character doesn’t depict an eye —

This 4-stroke character began as a kneeling person

This 'west' character began as a pictograph of a b

This six-stroke character began as a 3,000-year-ol

This 5-stroke mouth-with-a-scream-stroke was carve

This humble 9-stroke character began as 'bitter he

This 'apple' character 苹 originally depicted duck

This six-stroke character began as four hands lift

This 'brain' character hides a secret: its origina

This 'old' character began as a bent elder leaning

This 3-stroke character began as a bird flapping i

This six-stroke character began as an ancient pict

This 'rent' character hides ancient grain taxes in

This 'sleep' character doesn’t show a person lyin

This 'look' character began as a hand shading an e

This 'dog' character hides a phonetic secret: its

This 'dad' character wasn’t ancient — it was inv

Its four-dot 'fire' base (灬) is literally the ash

This ‘Han’ character began as a river’s name —

This ‘floating’ character began as a banner in w

Born as a drowning man under water, this 7-stroke

This 4-stroke character began as ancient pictograp

This 6-stroke character began as a pictograph of a

This 'chair' character hides a Tang-dynasty cultur

Born over 1,500 years ago as 'lofty wood,' 桌 didn

This ‘wood-cross’ character began as a prison st

Originally a Bronze Age drawing of fruit hanging f

This 'east' character began as a pictograph of a t

This 'cup' began as a carved wooden vessel 3,000 y

Though it looks like a moon character, 期 is reall

This 'clothes' character began as a pictograph of

This 'friend' character began as two ancient cowri

This 'moon' character is also 'month' — because a

This 'book' character began as a hand wielding a b

This 'yesterday' character hides a 'Z' in its righ

This character’s four dots aren’t decorative —

Born as sun-and-moon side by side on oracle bones,