There is a strong belief that learning Chinese is extremely difficult or almost impossible. However, most linguists and specialists specializing in China agree that for full communication, reading major newspapers and even many books, knowledge of only 3,000 characters is enough.
Each Chinese character is a separate syllable that can be pronounced in one of five keys. It is the tones of the Chinese language that pose the greatest difficulty for learning, because, as a rule, there are no analogues in the native language. Nevertheless, after a certain, sometimes short, practice, depending on the student’s hearing, a moment comes when the tones begin to differ by ear. To write Chinese syllables taking into account tones, there is a Pinyin system based on the Latin alphabet.
First tone- pronounced high and evenly, like the squeak of Morse code. Indicated by a straight line above the letter mā or simply ma1.
Second tone- ascending from medium to high level, sounds like a peculiar question. Denoted má or ma2.
Third tone- low decreasing, and then rising to a medium level. The tone is more reminiscent of the Russian interjection “Well then!?” Denoted mă or ma3.
Fourth tone- falling from high level to low, sounds like a kind of statement. Denoted by mà or ma4.
Syllable without tone- is not indicated in any way and is pronounced without tonality.
But the specificity of China and its inhabitants is such that the standard pronunciation of syllables is not widespread everywhere, and even if you travel 500 kilometers to another point in the country or communicate with a representative of Chinese nationality anywhere in the world, you risk being misunderstood. That is why the hieroglyphic notation for the Chinese plays the same important meaning, both within the country and outside its borders, as any language of international communication widespread in the world plays for people from other countries.
To learn Chinese, you need to know 214 key hieroglyphic characters, according to which Chinese and Japanese characters are most often located in dictionaries. These 214 keys will help you easily navigate new and unfamiliar hieroglyphs, quickly find their meaning in dictionaries and reference books, and even approximately guess the meaning and pronunciation of hieroglyphs.
Key signs relate to the following areas of knowledge:
Several key hieroglyphs.
The Chinese characters since the time of Shuowen Xu Shen, who lived at the beginning of our era, are divided into:
- simple wen 文;
- compound zi 字.
In addition, Chinese characters are divided into:
- demonstratives (zhi shi 指事), which are the oldest layer of Chinese writing and are used to convey abstract concepts. Their meaning can be understood even by people completely unfamiliar with Chinese writing - the numbers one (i 一), two (er 二), three (san 三), bottom (xia 下), top (shang 上), tree (mu 木), root (ben 本), apex (mo 末), etc.;
- pictorial (xiang xing 象形), which are direct images of objects and go back to pictograms. In modern Chinese writing, such characters include the following characters:
- shan 山 (meaning mountain), depicting mountain peaks;
- meng 門 (gate), depicting gate leaves;
- yu 雨 (rain), depicting falling raindrops;
- chê 車, denoting vehicle on wheels and depicting a view of a chariot from above.
- simple and complex ideograms (huizi 會意字), which are a combination of two simpler hieroglyphs related in meaning, forming a new concept:
- The character lin 林 (forest) is formed by two characters “木” (tree), and the meaning “thicket” (sen 森) is formed by a combination of three “trees”;
- rest (xiu 休) is formed by a variant spelling of the element 人 (person 亻) and wood “木”;
- hao 好 (love or good) is formed by combining the characters woman 女 and child 子.
Hieroglyphs of this type are few in number and make up about 10% of modern Chinese writing characters;
- phonoideograms (xingshengzi 形聲字) are the most numerous type of hieroglyphs, consisting of two parts - a key indicating the meaning, and a phonetic indicating the reading. They were created in two ways:
- by isolating one of the meanings from the original word - the hieroglyph qu 取 (to take) had several meanings, including “to take as a wife.” When the key “woman” 女 was added to this character, the meaning “to take as a wife” of the character qu 娶 was formed;
- by connecting the existing sign that conveys the sound of the word, which needs to be written, with a key indicating the semantic area:
- qing 青 combined with the key 日 (water) forms 晴 (meaning clear);
- the same qing 青 with the key 虫 (insect) means dragonfly (蜻), and with the key 魚 (fish) – mackerel (鯖), etc.
With the development of the language, the number constantly increased. If at the beginning of the second century AD the dictionary “Shuo Wen Jie Zi” recorded 9353 characters, the dictionary “Yupian 玉篇”, dating back to the 6th century, includes 16917 hieroglyphs, then the dictionary “Zhonghua Zihai”, published in 1994 in Beijing, contains already 87019 hieroglyphs.
It should be noted that a large number of hieroglyphs are dialect forms, their vernacular signs and various varieties of writing, and the number of signs actually used in a given era is much smaller. Currently, 7 thousand characters are classified as normative hieroglyphs in China.
The meaning of the most common Chinese characters
Hieroglyphs in Western culture have acquired decorative and symbolic meaning and therefore they are often used in interior decoration, dishes, clothing, and even in tattoos. In our culture, applying a hieroglyph is similar to applying runes; it is important to use the symbols correctly, and for this it is advisable to know their meaning.
Perhaps the most popular and well-known sound is the Chinese character “Qi” 氣, which is simply depicted as 气. This character refers to the fundamental concepts of Chinese philosophy and means vital energy which lies at the basis of all things.
“Qi” is a spatio-temporal, spiritual-material and vital-energy substance that underlies the structure of the Universe. In the Western philosophical tradition there is no analogue concept.
There are three semantic levels:
- qi as the substance of the Universe;
- qi as the energy of life that fills the human body;
- qi is a psychological center that reacts to feelings under the influence of will.
It is a fundamental concept for Feng Shui, a number of Chinese medical practices and teachings.
The character “fu” 福, which denotes happiness, wealth and well-being, is also popular. On New Year's Eve, almost every family in China attaches this character to the door of their home, as it is believed to bring success and happiness throughout the next year.
Often this character is used in various sentences together with the character “hing” 幸 – 幸福, and in combination with “家庭” it takes on the meaning “family happiness” 家庭幸福.
As an important element of Chinese culture, the character "fu" is associated with high expectations from life, dreams and various desires.
The Chinese character for Double Happiness 喜喜 is often used as a symbol of love and harmony in marriage as it brings happiness to both you and your spouse. A gift with such a hieroglyph means a sincere wish for a person to fulfill all his desires and is evidence of sincere friendship.
It is common to use and "富", which also sounds like "fu". In Feng Shui it is used as a sign that increases income and material wealth, and also creates indoor positive energy Qi.
Others are also used in Feng Shui. To attract monetary wealth, the hieroglyph “gian” 钱 is used, and the hieroglyph “yankang” 健康 (its meaning is health) can preserve health or help the sick.
For those who are not attached to material values, the hieroglyphs 繁荣 – fánróng and 成功 chénggōng are suitable. Their meaning is prosperity, giving spiritual peace and good luck, and business and creative success. Well, longevity, which will not harm anyone, is indicated by the hieroglyph 长寿 chángshòu.
Any culture actively uses love symbols, and for this it is quite possible to use hieroglyphs.
The character “ai” 爱 means love, 心 (“xin”) means soul, 情 (“qing” with “i”) means feelings, and 忠 (“zhong”) means loyalty.
The character “le” 樂 means joy, and 忍 (“ren”) means endurance, patience, which is required for someone who has decided to master the Chinese language and generally approaches any business seriously.
The character “patience” consists of simple pictorial characters 刃 (“ren”) - “blade”, “knife”, “sword” and 心 (“xin”) - “heart”.
The common character for "kindness" 善 also consists of two simple characters 言 and 羊, which is clearly visible in the ancient writing. Their meaning is “speech” and “ram”. The Chinese interpreted the sounds made by a ram (be-be-be) as a symbol of goodness, contrasting them with the roar of predators.
Thanks to films about martial arts, such Chinese characters as 老虎 (lǎohǔ) - tiger, 龙 ("long") - dragon, 战士 ("changshi") - warrior, etc. began to arouse interest.
Well, of course, the list of Chinese characters that are significant to us will be incomplete without our loved ones, that is, family members.
The character 父母 means parents, 母亲 means mother, and 父亲 means father. In Chinese, husband is written as 丈夫 and wife as 妻子. A child without gender indication is 孩子, a son is 儿子 [ér zi], and a daughter is 女儿.
The writing of hieroglyphs denoting brothers and sisters looks interesting - they are formed by the repetition of a simple sign - older sister 姐姐, younger sister 妹妹, older brother 哥哥, and younger - 弟弟.
I decided to write a trial lesson for those who are planning or just starting to learn Chinese. These will not be classical educational materials with detailed description completely unnecessary information. Only information of practical interest will be presented. Some aspects of Chinese grammar, vocabulary and other disciplines may be deliberately simplified or presented subjectively.
Before you start learning Chinese, I strongly recommend that you read the following articles:
Chinese. Introduction ()
Learning Chinese in a visual way ()
In my opinion, existing textbooks immeasurably complicate the process of learning Chinese by trying to simultaneously provide a lot of knowledge that is better distributed in space and time. That is why in the first lessons nothing will be said about pronunciation. The goal of the first stage is to gain a hieroglyphic base. Pronunciation information will be given very conditionally, it will be based on the Chinese pinyin transcription and the Russian transcription developed by Palladium, and will completely ignore tones.
Reference Information:
Pinyin– a Chinese system for recording the pronunciation of hieroglyphs based on the letters of the Latin alphabet (with the exception of the letter ü “u-umlyat”). Note: Don't try to read pinyin in English.
Transcription Palladium- Russian system for recording the pronunciation of Chinese characters, adopted in Russia. First used in the Chinese-Russian dictionary of 1888 compiled by Archimandrite Palladius. It very roughly conveys Chinese pronunciation.
Tones in Chinese – a system of pronunciation of a Chinese syllable, in which the same syllable can have up to four different intonation sounds, which allows different informational meanings to be attached to the same syllable. This is very important for the Chinese language, since the number of syllables in it is limited and is about 400.
So, you need to remember the reading of pinyin according to Palladium. To do this, I will give the reading of the hieroglyph in the form Hieroglyph – Pinyin – (Palladium), for example: 道 dao (dao). That is, you need to remember that dao is read as dao. Palladium is given as a guide only. Remember pinyin, because it is extremely important in the future practical study of the Chinese language, and you will see Palladium very rarely in the future.
Each new hieroglyph will be accompanied by a picture with its correct spelling. It is also advisable to remember the sequence of the style, since there are two main methods of computer typing of hieroglyphs - using Pinyin and using the handwriting input system. If you don’t remember the pronunciation, you can type a hieroglyph by drawing it, and for this it is very desirable to know the sequence of its writing, because it is taken into account by the computer when recognizing it. Do not pay attention to the thickening in the lines, these beauties imitate writing a hieroglyph with a brush; ordinary lines are written with a pen.
Let's start with the character 人 - person, which is read as ren (ren).
All hieroglyphs come from images. In ancient written monuments, a person was depicted as a person:
As we can see, the modern hieroglyph “man” has remained virtually unchanged over the past millennia.
Next hieroglyph:
口 kou (kou) mouth
Please note that it consists of three traits, and not four, as one would expect.
Compared to ancient times, the hieroglyph has also changed little.
Knowing two characters, we can already compose a Chinese word. In modern Chinese, most words consist of two characters. This is dictated by the fact that the number of syllables in the Chinese language is limited, and many characters have the same reading. Therefore, there is no need to translate hieroglyphs separately. They are usually included in words.
So, the first Chinese word:
人口
A hieroglyph, unlike a letter, is a symbol. And therefore it carries multiple meanings, which must always be taken into account when memorizing and translating new words. This word has three main meanings:
Literal, “human mouth” or simply “mouth, mouth.”
Figurative, a certain human unit that consumes food. Fits perfectly Russian word"eater".
Modern, "population". Under modern meaning I understand the most common words in modern Chinese.
Oshanin's largest Chinese-Russian dictionary gives another meaning, exotic, "voice of the people." But I think that you can only encounter such a meaning when reading ancient Chinese texts.
So, let's focus on the most common sense of 人口 ren-kou population. I gave the remaining examples only so that you have an idea of the polysemy of not only hieroglyphs, but also Chinese words. Therefore, if the meaning of a text that seems to consist of words familiar to you remains unclear, the most correct thing to do is check their meanings in a dictionary. In the future, I will give only the most common translations of words and hieroglyphs.
Next hieroglyph:
心 xin (xin) heart
Isn't it true, its ancient spelling
looks like a real heart)) And is there a certain connection with modern writing?
Now let's see what new words we can make from the studied hieroglyphs:
心口 In this example, you will have to once again turn on imaginative thinking. The heart is the soul, the mouth is speech. The soul, as a silent entity, cannot deceive. But the mouth very often says something different from what a person thinks. Therefore, the correct translation would be “thoughts and words.”
人心 The human heart is “feelings, thoughts, desires.” This is the correct translation.
It must be borne in mind that grammatically the Chinese language is very primitive. It has virtually no means of expressing the plural. So don't be afraid to use plural when translating words where it is appropriate and dictated by the meaning.
Next hieroglyph:
中 zhong (zhong) middle, center. I think the meaning of the image is clear without additional comments.
This hieroglyph also has not undergone significant changes over the centuries.
The following combinations are possible with this hieroglyph:
人中 among people
person of average ability
心中 in the heart, in the soul; gut
中心 middle, center
You should not think that any hieroglyph forms a pair with any other hieroglyph.
Please note that the location of the hieroglyph in the word gives absolutely different meanings. If we talk specifically about 中, then located in the first place, it carries more of an adjective connotation, and in second place - an indicator of place.
Next hieroglyph:
文 wen (wen) writing.
The hieroglyph originally depicted a tattoo on the body, as can be seen in the picture. So we can say that Chinese writing arose from a tattoo on the body of a Chinese leader))
With this hieroglyph we can get the following pairs:
人文 human culture, civilization.
文人 educated, cultured person. In these two words, 文 appears in a very broad sense: literacy as necessary condition for the emergence of culture.
中文 Chinese. Here 中 acts as a synonym for China, because the Chinese call their state a middle state, located in the center of the world.
Well, now the simplest Chinese character:
一 yi (and) one.
It has remained unchanged since ancient times.
Let's see what pairs there are with this hieroglyph:
一人 one person, someone. The hieroglyph “one” can also act as an indicator of uncertainty “someone, some”, like the Russian “one - once”.
一口 unanimously.
With all my heart, unanimously.
Next hieroglyph:
大 da (yes) big
The meaning of the hieroglyph is also transparent; a man is depicted with his arms spread wide.
大人 adult, adult.
一大 sky. This example is very interesting. To understand why the combination “one - big” has the meaning “sky,” let’s move on to studying the next hieroglyph.
Next hieroglyph:
天 tian (tian) sky
Depicts something located above the top of a person’s head. That is the sky.
All Chinese characters can be divided into two parts - indivisible and composite. Indivisible are those that cannot be broken down into simpler components. All the hieroglyphs that we had studied before were indivisible. Although 大 can seemingly be divided into 一 and 人, the Chinese consider it indivisible. But the character 天 is already compound, it consists of 一 and 大. The Chinese consider one of the elements that make up composite hieroglyphs to be key. Knowing the key in the hieroglyph is absolutely necessary if you use Chinese paper dictionaries, where the hieroglyphs are arranged precisely according to the keys. In the character 天, such a key is the element 大. Therefore, in the future I will place the hieroglyph key in brackets after the translation in the form:
天 tian (tian) sky (大)
And if there is no such clarification, then the hieroglyph is indivisible.
I hope it’s now clear why 一大 has the meaning “sky”; it’s simply the character 天 decomposed into its component parts.
天人 an outstanding person; celestial
天口 skillful orator, Chrysostom
天心 center of the sky, zenith
天中 center of the sky, zenith
astronomy
Next hieroglyph:
日 ri (zhi) sun. “Day” also has the meaning, since the rotation of the Earth around its axis is associated with the movement of the sun across the sky and the calculation of days.
The sun is the sun
日人 Japanese. Japan is also associated in China with the sun, just as China is with the center of the world, so 日人 will not be a sun person, but a Japanese person.
heliocentric
日中 noon
中日 Chinese-Japanese
日文 Japanese language
Next hieroglyph:
女 nü (nyu) woman.
In ancient times it was depicted as a submissive figure squatting.
女人 woman; wife
女口 women's chatter
天女 goddess, fairy
Next hieroglyph:
如 ru (zhu) to resemble, to be similar, to correspond (女)
Please note that these are not two characters 女口, but one compound.
IN ancient China the daughter had to obey her father, the wife her husband, and the widow her son. Therefore, the joint image of a woman and a mouth (father, husband, son) carried the meaning - to follow in accordance with the instructions, to correspond to one’s status of unquestioningness.
如心 to comply with desire.
Same, no changes
The hieroglyphs we have studied are already enough for us to read a phrase more complex than simple words. Here she is:
↓
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↓
↓
↓
↓
↓
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↓
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After the native and flexible Russian language, the first phrases in Chinese are more like Russian Chukchi. In fact, well, what is it: To be like - the sun - the middle - the sky. There are not enough endings, declensions, conjugations and other means that make the phrase understandable and rounded. And here is a chopped style without any hint of beauty. So, the correct translation of the phrase “Like the sun at its zenith.” That is, to be in full bloom of something. Looking ahead, I want to reassure you that in its expressiveness, elegance and beauty, the Chinese language is in no way inferior to Russian, but it achieves this by other means.
Four-character phrases like the one we have translated are very common in Chinese, called chengyu. Most of them are quotations from classical Chinese works, and favorite hobby Chinese lexicographers - to compile dictionaries of monstrous thickness, in which they meticulously describe the origin of Chengyu.
So, today we learned 12 hieroglyphs:
人口心中文一大天日女如
Afterword about muteness
A few words to justify the fact that oral Chinese is not required to be studied at the first stage.
As you already understand, I propose now to limit ourselves to the hieroglyphic base, without studying pronunciation. Anticipating criticism of this position, I would like to present my arguments in some detail.
In my opinion, it is completely irrational to study Chinese in its entirety from the very first steps. In order to learn how to say a few banal phrases in Chinese, you must first understand the tone system itself, the rhythm of the sentence, and learn to associate hieroglyphs with their sounds. At the first stage, these are completely unnecessary attempts.
Learning Chinese oral speech I would break it down into two stages.
First. Passive perception. When your hieroglyphic base is so good that you can understand the main content when reading fluently, it’s time to start listening to Chinese speech. In this case, for example, when watching programs with subtitles, your perception no longer needs to be torn between the translation of the text and its comparison with the sound. It can fully concentrate on the subtleties of Chinese spoken language.
When you can already understand at least 50 percent of the conversation, you can move on to trying to squeak something in Chinese yourself. Here, again, perception is concentrated on only one task, which makes the learning process easier and more effective.
If you think palladium transcription will be a hindrance in the future force majeure for the correct study of oral Chinese speech, then this, I think, does not pose a serious problem. At first, we all speak with a monstrous Russian accent, no matter what language we study. Therefore, Palladium’s transcription can only be considered as a Chinese text with a Russian accent, from which it will be no more difficult to switch to pure Chinese speech than with classical language learning.
Good luck in the difficult and meaningless work of learning Chinese))
Criticism, enthusiastic screams and spitting will be received with gratitude, as will links to this article posted on the Internet.
“Hieroglyphs?!? Oh no! How can you even remember them? Chinese is not for me!” Olga.
We get something like this all the time feedback from our readers.
Here's another example: “All my life I wanted to learn Chinese, but I remember the hieroglyphs very poorly […] I gave up everything...” Alexey L.
It's incredibly sad when people give up on their dreams simply because they encounter difficulties that seem insurmountable to them.
Do you have such thoughts? If yes, then be sure to read on!
Is it possible to easily learn and memorize hieroglyphs?
Yes, I don’t argue, hieroglyphs are one of the biggest stumbling blocks in mastering Chinese. But think about it: More than a billion Chinese were able to master them. They use them every day! And believe me, not all of them are brilliant. If they could do it, you definitely can!
I have 2 news for you: one is good, the other is also good.
1. If you use the right approach, Chinese writing will no longer seem so inaccessible. Main understand the basic principles: how hieroglyphs are constructed, where they get their meaning and how they are pronounced. Once you figure this out, half the battle is done.
2. The more hieroglyphs you know, the easier it will be to remember new ones.
Where to begin?
Ideally, learn the principles of hieroglyphs and at the same time gain vocabulary.
And today we will study the first principle on the basis of which many basic hieroglyphs were formed: the “Picture Principle”. According to him, the hieroglyph is as similar as possible to the object it depicts.
And to illustrate this principle, today we will study with you 10 simplest Chinese characters.
They are easy to remember and learn to write, and most importantly, they will often appear in various Chinese texts and will help you master even more characters in the future.
1. 一 yī
What does it mean: This is without a doubt the simplest character in the Chinese language. It is not difficult to guess that it means the number “one”.
How to remember: The logic in this hieroglyph is obvious: the Chinese put one stick on the ground, which means one.
Let’s add two more obvious hieroglyphs here:
Two sticks are two 二 èr;
Three sticks are three 三 sān.
Example: Of course, hieroglyphs themselves are useless to us if we do not know how to use them. So let's immediately make up a couple of words and expressions and start talking a little.
十一 shí yī eleven (ten + one);
十三 shí sān thirteen;
二十 èr shí twenty (two tens);
我要一个。wǒ yào yī gè I want one piece (use while shopping).
2. ren
What does it mean: This hieroglyph means Human.
How to remember: Imagine that a head is drawn above the hieroglyph, and add 2 feet to the legs, and voila, you have a person.
How do you spell: First write a line to the left, and then from its center to the right. Remember that we write all hieroglyphs from top to bottom.
Example:
Just one person.
What about? tā shì shénme rén – who is he?
3. 入 rù
What does it mean: Very similar to human 人, but in no case should they be confused. 入 rù means enter.
How to remember: This hieroglyph originally had the meaning “outside - in” and depicted the tip of a knife or arrow blade that pierced or ENTERED into some object.
How do you spell: First, write a small line to the left, and then, starting a little higher, write a line to the right. We write from top to bottom.
Example:
入口 rùkǒu entrance;
It is important to go to university.
4. 日rì
What does it mean: This is the Sun. And when we see the sun, what time of day is it? That's right, day. So this is Sun or day.
How to remember: There were times when this hieroglyph was written as a circle, with a dot in the center. With the development of writing, he acquired modern look and stopped being so obvious. And yet, we look at the square with a line and see the solar disk with a halo around it.
How do you spell: First we write the left vertical line from top to bottom. Then the top and right line from left to right and down without lifting your hand. Last we write horizontal lines in the center and below. Both strokes are written from left to right.
Example:
一月一日 yī yuè yī rì the first of January (the first day of the month).
By the way, what will it be like on the third of March?
5. 山 shān
What does it mean: in its shape this hieroglyph is also similar to what it means: mountain.
How to remember: On the horizon we see three mountain peaks.
How do you spell: First write a short left stroke from top to bottom and continue down to the bottom right. Then write the highest line in the middle and the right line a little lower. All vertical strokes are written from top to bottom.
Example:
山口 shānkǒu pass, entrance to the gorge;
上山 shàng shān to climb the mountains.
6. 口 kǒu
What does it mean: This hieroglyph has different meanings, the most common are mouth And entrance.
How to remember: A very simple hieroglyph - like many basic hieroglyphs, it was a direct image of an object, so it is easy to remember. We look at the square and see an open mouth.
How do you spell: Same as 日 rì, but without the middle line. By the way, a little check, what is 日？
Example:
大口 dà kǒu big mouth, large-mouthed;
出口 chū kǒu exit. By the way, remember what “entrance” is? – 入口;
人口 rén kǒu population.
7. 中 zhōng
What does it mean: This is a hieroglyph center, inside, middle.
How to remember: Its value is indicated by a line that is located exactly in the center.
How do you spell: Same as 口 kǒu, only more rectangular in shape. Why add a middle line from top to bottom.
Example:
中午 zhōngwǔ noon (middle of the day);
中国人 zhōng guó rén Chinese (a person from the middle state, i.e. from China);
中医 Chinese medicine.
8. 火 hǔo
What does it mean: You might think that this is a man waving his arms? But no, it's fire.
How to remember: Do you remember what a fire looks like made from small logs and with flames flying upward? Now look at this hieroglyph - one to one!
How do you spell: First the left, then the right “tongues of flame”, and then like 人 rén.
Example:
大火 dà hǔo fire;
火山 hǔo shān volcano;
火车 hǔo chē train (fire carriage).
9. 女nǚ
What does it mean: This woman.
How to remember: Initially, a woman was depicted kneeling. Now we can see in this hieroglyph a head, arms, two legs and a graceful “back” part.
How do you spell: This hieroglyph has 3 lines: the first line from the head smoothly transitions to the leg to the right, then we write the second leg to the left. And finally, hands - from left to right.
Example:
女人 nǚ rén woman;
女厕所 nǚ cèsuŏ women's toilet.
10. 门 men
What does it mean: This door.
How to remember: This character, especially in the traditional spelling 門, is very similar to doorway in old Chinese houses. If you don’t know what doors looked like in China, then remember the doors to saloons in cowboy films.
And this hieroglyph often becomes a phonetic, i.e. helps us learn the reading of the hieroglyph without looking in the dictionary (but we’ll talk about this in more detail another time).
How do you spell: first a small line-dot in the upper left corner, then a vertical line down from it, and finally a third line - horizontally and down, without lifting your hand.
Example:
门口 mén kǒu entrance, exit, gate;
开门 kāi men open the door;
入门 rù mén to enter the door (and can also be used in figurative meaning: to make a beginning, to make an initiative).
Happy practice!
Svetlana Khludneva
P.S. Take care of yourself!
The entire space is permeated with invisible streams of energy. And knowledgeable Masters of different Feng Shui schools master various techniques with which you can enhance the life luck of a particular person. One of these techniques is the use of special activator symbols. And a graphic image of a hieroglyph may be suitable for the role of one of these activators. Moreover, it is permissible to use both purchased and independently created items with hieroglyphs.
According to a long-standing tradition, the inhabitants of the “Celestial Empire” express their aspirations and wishes in writing using special hieroglyphic symbols. In fact, to this day modern houses, offices, restaurants in China you can find panels, paintings, fans, etc. with the image of hieroglyphs. These objects symbolize the desires of their owners, which they are trying to bring to life.
So, for example, if a person intends to find love or strengthen family relationships, he can hang a drawing with the hieroglyph of the same name on one of the walls in the house. Or wear the same hieroglyph around your neck in the form of a pendant. Or set a background image on the desktop of your computer or mobile device, etc. In this way, a person symbolically makes it clear to the Universe what exactly he wants from life at this particular moment in time! And depending on how strong their own luck in life is, some people realize their plans faster, others slower. Still others may not get what they want at all, especially if they have destroyed their Karma in every possible way with negative actions...
In addition, there is an opinion that people who have formulated and voiced their dreams have a greater chance of fulfilling their desires than those who only mentally think about it. If only because the people around you can help you achieve your goals if they know your secret dreams. But from the point of view of an Eastern person, everything is somewhat more complicated. Because everything depends solely on the perception of reality. And what may be a myth or legend for some people, others may perceive as undeniable historical facts!
If you are inspired by the described idea and decide to use hieroglyphs, you can set any of the hieroglyphs presented on the site as a picture for your Desktop (in fact, this is one of the goals of this project). Or you can try to print the image on a printer; or reproduce the hieroglyph manually on paper using a brush and paints. And hang the resulting drawing, charged with your own energy, on one of the walls of your apartment or office.
Setting a background image for your Desktop is quite simple. (1) First, you need to select a specific image by clicking on the thumbnail from the list. The selected hieroglyph picture should appear in the main (large) window at the top of the web page. Please note that it may take some time to download the image from the server; and the picture may not be updated immediately, but after a few seconds. (2) Next, you need to save the picture you like to your computer device, or set the background picture directly from the Internet Browser window. (3) For these purposes, you should right-click computer mouse by image, or press and hold the image for a few seconds with your finger on the touch screen. After this, a pop-up menu with a list of commands should appear on the display. Depending on the Browser version, the pop-up menu may differ from each other. But, as a rule, commands should appear in the proposed list " Save drawing as..." or " Set as background image". And then you can safely click on the desired command, having first made sure that there is enough free memory on the device to save the new drawing!
If you decide to first save the drawing to a computer device, you will have to open it manually on the device later. And by analogy with actions in the Browser, call up a pop-up menu with the right mouse button or finger on the touchpad. Most likely, among the commands that appear, a command like " Set as desktop background", by selecting (clicking) which you will set this image as the background for your screen.
Some versions of operating systems may not allow you to change the current wallpaper. In this case, you can try to save the drawing to your device and periodically open it for admiring in the image viewer! Or just sometimes visit the gallery of our website!
