Stories behind characters - 好, 妙, 美...

[monto]

好：

It's GOOD to have both woman and son(s).

[skylee]

好：

It's GOOD to have both woman and son(s).

And no daughter(s)? How is/are the son(s) gonna get his/their woman/women?

[ABCinChina]

好：It's GOOD to have both woman and son(s).[/Quote]

What does this have to do with simplified characters you'd like to change?

[monto]

What does this have to do with simplified characters you'd like to change?

Nothing to do with what "I'd like to change" but something to do with what " I like".

Another one:

妙

It's WONDERFUL for a WOMAN to be YOUNG.

[Lu]

好：It's GOOD to have both woman and son(s).

What do I need a woman for? I'd rather have a man. And I'm quite sure half of the world's population agrees with me.

[monto]

What do I need a woman for? I'd rather have a man. And I'm quite sure half of the world's population agrees with me.

It can't be helped.

Men had the complete say when the character was created.

I have another:

安

It is PEACEFUL for a Woman to stay Home.

[muyongshi]

No what that character means is that a house is peaceful when there is only 1 woman in it. Meaning a man with many wives would only have never ending strife (not to mention the woman themselves wouldn't enjoy it!)

[Lu]

That works, my house is very peaceful :-D

[skylee]

That works, my house is very peaceful :-D

Ditto.

[gougou]

No what that character means is that a house is peaceful when there is only 1 woman in it.

So to summarize, like 好, it's saying don't get a daughter (unless you get rid of your wife in the process). Is it the same theory behind all characters?

[muyongshi]

No, no. A mother daughter relationship is very different!!!! This is referring to the relationship with the man. So maybe 好 could be interpreted as the respectful 子 (like in 孔子，孟子) and so it's actually just saying one woman and one man is good, a triangle is just hell!

[monto]

so it's actually just saying one woman and one man is good, a triangle is just hell!

好！It is modern interpretation.

And what for 美？

[gougou]

Split this discussion from this thread, as it originally was meant to be about characters that underwent simplification.

[studentyoung]

And what for 美？

The original meaning of the character 美 is something that tastes delicious. The character 美 consists of 羊(sheep or goat) and 大 (big), which means big/strong sheep or goats taste delicious. Hehe.

◎ 美 měi

〈形〉

(1) (会意。金文字形,从羊,从大,古人以羊为主要副食品,肥壮的羊吃起来味很美。本义:味美)

(2) 同本义 [delicious]

美,甘也。——《说文》

http://www.zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE7ZdicBEZdic8E.htm (美•详细解释)

Cheers!

[monto]

The character 美 consists of 羊(sheep or goat) and 大 (big), which means big/strong sheep or goats taste delicious. Hehe.

I agree with the "delicious" and "羊(sheep or goat)" , but not quite with the 大 (big).

Any way, the character has the feather a Chinese character is sopposed to have.

It is the most significant feather of Chinese characters, as I understand, that many of them just enable you to "see" the meaning before actually reading them. That is what I like and why I like.

This is still of the topic of "liking a charater".