How is the hieroglyph “heart” depicted?
Chinese character for "heart". Illustration: website
The hieroglyph “heart” is a pictogram depicting a person’s heart. The ancient form of the hieroglyph resembled this internal organ more human than the modern mark.
Ancient form of the hieroglyph "heart". Illustration: website
The “heart” sign forms the basis of many hieroglyphs that are associated with spiritual qualities and the inner world of a person.
For example, the hieroglyph “thought” consists of two parts “sound” and “heart”: that is, the “voice in the heart” is the hieroglyph “”.
Hieroglyph "thought". Illustration: website
When they poke a knife into your heart, and you remain calm and unperturbed - this is the hieroglyph “”.
Hieroglyph "patience". Illustration: website
If you can resist the temptation of fame and benefits, then in China they say that you have “ ” (Chinese idiom). Of course, such a person actually has a strong will, sensitive and kind heart, but puts the interests of his country first.
Chinese idiom "wooden body and heart of stone." Illustration: website
And when it seems that someone’s claws have grabbed the heart and completely captured it, this is “ouch” - “”.
Hieroglyph "love". Illustration: website
Many people call ancient culture China's culture of virtue and nobility. And the hieroglyph virtue means that ten eyes look at one heart. In other words, many divine eyes look at the human heart. When a person's thoughts and actions correspond to the standards that Heaven has established for people, this is "
Let's consider the meaning of the hieroglyph “U”: 悟 – “comprehension”. Since this compound hieroglyph contains some more symbols, for example, “self”, “heart”, we will also get acquainted with these signs of Chinese writing.
Chinese character for "comprehension"
Hieroglyph “comprehension”, pronunciation: wù/у (4th tone). Illustration by Maria Kononenko.
When a hieroglyph is part of another hieroglyph, it is called a grapheme. Thus, in the character “comprehension” you can find 4 graphemes, each of which can also be used as full-fledged independent characters in various Chinese texts.
These are the graphemes of the hieroglyph “comprehension”: 口 - “mouth, hole”, 五 - “five”; 吾 – “own self”, 心 – “heart”.
Chinese character for "heart"
The ancient schematic accurately reproduces this vital human organ.
However, in the process of the evolution of Chinese writing, the character for “heart” has changed significantly, and is currently written like this:
Modern hieroglyph for “heart”, pronunciation: xīn/xin. Illustration by Maria Kononenko 忄 is also a “heart” grapheme, but in this form the sign is used exclusively as an element within another hieroglyph, for example, as in our case with the concept of “comprehension”.
Chinese, in broad meaning also "hole"
Hieroglyph “mouth”, pronunciation: kǒu/kou. Illustration: Maria Kononenko
Chinese character "five"
The hieroglyph “five” illustrated above symbolizes the “5 elements” (Chinese: Wu-hsing), according to the interpretation of the Showen Jiezi dictionary *.
According to the ideas of the ancient Chinese, the “five elements” (Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, Earth) are the primary elements of the entire Universe. The “5 elements” come from two opposite principles “yin” and “yang”, which symbolize day and night, Heaven and Earth, masculine and feminine, etc.
The upper and lower lines in the ancient hieroglyph symbolize Heaven and Earth (“yang” and “yin”), which in the process of interaction and struggle give rise to the “five primary elements” or “five elements”.
The modern hieroglyph “5” has changed significantly and is now written like this:
Modern hieroglyph “five”, pronunciation: wǔ/у (3rd tone). Illustration by Maria Kononenko
Etymology of the Chinese character for "self"
Hieroglyph “own self”, pronunciation: wú/у (2nd tone). Illustration: Maria Kononenko By combining the two graphemes “hole” and “five” described above, the ancient Chinese gave a designation to the concept of “self.”
How are these two signs related?
We will find the answer in traditional culture China.
According to the same concept of the “five elements”, a person has five organs (symbolically “holes” - author) of perception of the world - these are eyes, ears, tongue, nose, skin (touch, tactile sensations). A person also has five senses that spontaneously react differently to the world around us– this is joy, melancholy, thoughtfulness, grief, anger. They shape personality in many ways.
“5 virtues” of a person: humanity or humanity, rules of decency or a sense of tact, trust and faith, decency or a sense of duty, wisdom - the main characteristics of a person, which distinguishes people from animals in their manifestations to the outside world. This also forms the “own self”.
Etymology of the hieroglyph “comprehension” (one’s own self)
The hieroglyph “comprehension” 悟 is extensive and also carries the content of the concepts “wake up”, “awaken”; “enlightenment”, “understanding”; “awareness” (of one’s own self).
In Chinese culture, the character "Wu" (pinyin: wù) plays special role. Let's give one example of this. One of the main characters of the very famous classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West”, the mystical immortal monkey Sun Wukun, has the hieroglyph “Wu” in his name (Wu-kun, from Chinese “comprehended emptiness”).
To designate such an abstract concept as “comprehension,” the ancient sages combined two graphemes “heart” and “self.” And a new hieroglyph arose.
The structure of the Chinese character for “comprehension” (self). Illustration from https://www.facebook.com/ShenYunPerformingArts. On the company page representing using
New Tang Dynasty Television recently reported that more than a hundred Taiwanese entrepreneurs living in Shanghai traveled to Taiwan to recruit young people to work for their companies.
When asked why they were looking for people in Taiwan when there are many talented people in Shanghai, the manager of a human resources company explained with a feeling of disappointment: “Because young people in mainland China have a wolfish nature.”
He also said that young people from Taiwan have more creativity and loyalty to the company they work for.
These are young people of the same race, speak the same language, just live on different shores. So why do people on one bank retain the qualities of devotion and fidelity characteristic of the traditional Chinese culture, and on the other they show heartlessness?
Perhaps we can find the reason if we look at the Chinese character 愛 (ai), meaning “love.”
Initially, this hieroglyph did not have a deep emotional meaning associated with a person or event. It was an expression of gratitude from a hungry man.
When creating the character, 愛 was written as 㤅, that is, an expression of gratitude for the food provided. At the top of the 旡 there is a picture of a hungry man with a large open mouth. The lower part is represented by the character 心, meaning heart. This is an accurate representation of the physical heart.
During the Qin Dynasty, more than 2,000 years ago, the image of a slow walking pace (夊) was added to the bottom to show reluctance to part with something.
The essence of the character 愛 (love) is that it includes the character “heart”. If a person is truly in love or grateful, he does it with all his heart.
However, in the simplified version of this Chinese character, the "heart" in the middle has been removed.
Young people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and even Japan write the character for “love” with “heart.” But young people from mainland China write it without “heart.”
The character 心 (heart) has only four strokes. It's not difficult to write.
It is strange that the character 鬼, which means ghost and has a negative meaning, has ten strokes. It has not been simplified, even in its use as a root. For example: 魔 (demon); 魂 (soul); 魄 (subconscious); 魅 (ghost).
But there is one exception. The traditional character for 醜 (ugly) has the root 鬼 because a ghost is the ugliest thing; but in the simplified character "ghost" is removed, changing "ugly" from 醜 to 丑.
This makes one wonder about the motives for simplifying Chinese writing and the destruction traditional values Chinese people.
Ser. 9. 2007 Issue 1 Part 2
BULLETIN OF ST. PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY
RUSSIAN PHRASEOLOGISTS WITH COMPONENTS OF HEART AND SOUL ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE
The article will consider phraseological units with the word heart, in which this word can be replaced by the word soul. There are 26 such phraseological units: the soul/heart turns upside down; soul! my heart is breaking<на части>; soul/heart is out of place; soul/heart hurts; a stone on someone’s soul/heart; a stone has fallen from my soul! tear your soul!heart; tear out from the heart/soul; read in the soul/heart; in the depths of the soul/heart; from the fullness of the soul! hearts; look into the soul! into the heart; someone's head!soul!heart is burning; with all my soul! with all my heart; with an open soul!heart; the soul/heart does not belong to someone or something; creep into the soul! into the heart of someone, someone, someone; take/grab the soul/heart; absolute hell on (in) the soul/heart; to the depths of the soul/heart; cats scratch at the soul/heart; scratches the soul/heart; hurt your soul!heart; rest the arc oh/heart; not to my liking! to the heart of someone.. someone.. something.
Most of them (23) phraseological dictionary under. ed. A.I. Molotkova1 considers both options, and the main option is considered to be the one in which the word soul is used. In almost all phraseological units, both components freely replace each other. Why is such a replacement possible?
Phraseologisms with the word heart are based on different meanings of this word - 1) directly ("one of the bodily organs") and 2) figuratively ("this organ is the focus of a person's feelings, experiences, moods") and 3) its connotation ("about the spiritual world of a person, his experiences, feelings, moods" "). For example: from the fullness of the heart; the heart does not lie; rip your heart out.
In the second group of phraseological units, the soul component is synonymous with the word heart. Wed: read in someone’s heart/soul. “to guess someone’s thoughts, desires, moods”; from the fullness of the soul/heart “from an excess of feelings”; look into the soul/heart “to try to understand someone’s innermost thoughts and feelings”; with an open soul/with an open heart “sincerely, trustingly, frankly”; creep into the heart/soul “unnoticed, appear involuntarily”, etc.
Russian language dictionaries note this meaning for the word soul:
1. A conventionally used term denoting the inner, mental world of a person (BAS, 3, 1184-1185); 1. The inner mental world of a person, his experiences, moods, feelings, etc. (MAC, 1, 456).
But what is especially interesting is the use of the word soul in that group of phraseological units that are based on the direct meaning of the word heart: the soul/heart is torn (to pieces); heart/soul turns upside down; heart/soul breaks; heart/soul is out of place; heart/soul hurts; stone on the soul/heart; tear out from the heart/soul, etc.
While not being a synonym for the word heart, the word soul here also acts as a designation for an organ of the body, which usually occupies a certain place and position in the body and can lose it or change it (out of place, turns over); on the soul
© Wu Shu-Hua, 2006
there may be a stone (or fall from the soul); it, like the heart, like any other part of the body, can hurt; something can be taken out of it, etc. This completely contradicts idealistic and religious ideas about the soul as an immaterial substance, an immaterial beginning of life. Apparently, in the images that underlie these phraseological units, a contradiction between philosophical and religious Christian and everyday consciousness appeared. It is characteristic that none explanatory dictionary does not note this in the semantics of the word soul.
In all dictionaries, except BAS, phraseology is given a special place in the dictionary entry - after all free meanings. BAS tries to “link” phraseological units to meanings if the semantic connection with them is still felt. At the end of the dictionary entry only those phraseological units whose meanings are given modern language no longer correlate with any of the free values.
Returning to the word soul, it should be noted that those phraseological units in which the components soul and heart replace each other are placed in the Big Academic Dictionary at the end of the dictionary entry (the soul hurts, the soul hurts, the soul is torn apart, the cats are scratching at the soul, the soul has gone to waste , the soul is out of place), that is, the authors admit that here the soul is not the same as “the immaterial principle in man, which constitutes the essence of his life and distinguishes him from animals.” Phraseologisms show that in the presentation ordinary person who naively understands the world around him, the soul is one of the material substances. And if so, then it must fit somewhere in the body. The facts of the Russian language indicate that for the Slavs the heart is such a place.
In Chinese, the concept of “soul” (like the concept of “heart”) is more complex and can be indicated in writing in different ways- both as a separate hieroglyph and as complexes of two or four hieroglyphs - words. For example: “heart + soul (^J)”, “heart + guts ("[>Ш)”, “heart + spirit (M^)”, etc. Their semantics is always somehow connected with the concepts of “inner world person", "emotions, feelings", " psychological state", "hobbies", etc.2
When comparing Russian and Chinese phraseological units with the heart component, the following is revealed. In both Russian and Chinese, phraseological units with the word heart are included in the semantic group that reflects the emotional state (anger, joy, confusion, shame, embarrassment, etc.). Emotions have a clear external manifestation in facial expressions, gestures, and behavior. They are accompanied by certain psychophysiological sensations. These feelings are conveyed by phraseology:
Russian phraseological units: my heart is breaking into pieces, my heart! the soul has sunk into the heels, the heart! the soul is out of place, a knife in the heart, rest your soul!heart.
Chinese phraseological units: “heart and liver are torn into pieces”5; “heart
is pounding, the veins are shaking" (about the feeling of fear); Sht&ShSh "the soul has sunk into the heels." No! "#§ "the soul is anxious." “heart and soul are out of place” (about feelings of anxiety,
anxiety). ZHSH" to "ten thousand arrows pierce the heart." "the heart is like a knife
cut" (about a state of anger, melancholy). "The heart is open, the soul is cheerful"
(about the manifestation of joy, fun:).
It can be noted that in both Russian and Chinese, phraseological units more often reflect negative rather than positive emotions.
There is a certain similarity between the images on which the phraseological unit is based: the heart/soul is burning - “the heart is in a hurry, as if on fire”: the heart is breaking - ^
SHSH "heart and liver are torn to pieces": the heart/soul has gone to the heels - "the soul has gone to the heels": the heart is out of place - "S^YA! "the heart is not here"; ^^iTZSHU "heart
like cutting with a knife." True, the lexical expression of this image may not completely coincide: Russian cats scratch the heart - Chinese "thousands of arrows pierce the heart." The same feeling of sharp, stabbing pain in the heart is expressed in different ways.
There are very few cases when both the component composition and the PU value coincide; this can be considered, rather, an exception. There is only one case in this article: Russian PU - someone’s heart is not in the right place. “someone is worried, feels very uneasy” and Chinese - literally, “the heart is not here, the heart is not here.”
In other cases, Russian and Chinese phraseological units differ either semantically or in composition. Thus, the Russian phraseological unit with all my heart/soul “limitlessly/infinitely/sincerely/ardently believe, love” corresponds to the Chinese - (lit. - “with all my heart, with all my thoughts”). The soul, which completely coincides in composition of the phraseological unit, has gone to its heels in the Russian language and conveys the feeling strong fear, and in Chinese - anxiety.
In Chinese, the concepts of “heart” and “soul” are also interconnected, some of their meanings are synonymous. But they cannot replace each other in one phraseological unit, as happens in the Russian language. The reasons for this are different, they are rooted in the history of the formation of Chinese phraseology, associated with the peculiarities of Chinese writing, and, finally, with the peculiarities of national thinking, worldview, and worldview.
The first feature of Chinese phraseological units is that all of them (or most) necessarily have literary source. It is these phraseological units that are described in scientific literature. In other words, they come from four sources: 1) from fables; 2) from myths or legends; 3) from historical events; 4) from famous phrases in literary works. For example: (M4* - “old man Yugong” - “moved the mountain”) - “stay until the end, and everything will be successful”; 0 ""colossus of Kuafu"; ill B - "catching up with the sun") - "unreal".
In Russian such combinations are called catchphrases; These are figurative, apt expressions, sayings that have an author and have entered into general use. Wed, for example: they wanted the best, but it turned out as always; his example to others is science. Naturally, replacing one component with another is impossible here.
The second feature of Chinese phraseological units concerns their structure. Structurally, Chinese phraseological units are always four-word formations, called ESH^^ in Chinese. In terms of meaning, this is a combination of words that have free meanings and are part of the same semantic group. As part of phraseological units of this type, individual meanings are integrated, components are combined into one semantic whole. ZhShShM (Zh "east", Shch "south", Sh "west", "Jit "north") - "countries of the world"; (# "spring", Zh "summer", "Zh "autumn", "winter") - "times
years". In functional terms, they correspond to the word, since the concept is denoted by a phraseological unit as a whole, and not by its individual components. Ш - "heart/soul"; Ш - "willingly to do".
The third difference between Chinese phraseological units and Russian ones is explained by the typological difference grammatical structure these languages. For example, in Russian the verb changes by person, tense and aspect to indicate the process of movement. For example: the head is swollen - the head is swollen; head goes around - my head went spinning. In Chinese, phraseological units strictly maintain a four-element composition, but since there are no perfect or imperfect verbs, to convey the corresponding meaning, the speaker must insert into the sentence words now or in the past (T), which actually perform the functions of suffixes. But these words do not become an additional (fifth) element of the phraseological unit. Thus, the Chinese phraseological unit, like the Russian one, has the structure of a verb combination,
but unlike the Russian PU, species-temporal relations are expressed analytically, outside the PU. Let's give an example: J () T1 “fasten”, A “man”, “heart”, ®
"string") - "to take by the heart." Chinese verbs define time or the meaning of a process through an “empty” word or adverb. For example: lillft Y SHYZHLEY - This song
now truly touches the heart; DtnY - This song truly took over
heart (here the “empty” word / shows the past tense).
Finally, when comparing phraseological units of two languages, one must take into account that, to a large extent, their national originality (and, as a consequence, difficulty in translating), even with the similarity of the component composition, is explained by the fact that each nation puts its own concepts into words. Regardless of the generality of the laws of human thinking, the same words reflect different ideas.
In Chinese culture, the heart is primarily a thinking, not a feeling organ - the heart-mind, the smart heart. Therefore, in many translations Chinese proverbs, containing the hieroglyph "heart", it is better to use Russian word intelligence. For example: Devils are generated by (one’s own) mind (in the original - the heart)2. The meaning of “thought, mind” is noted in dictionaries Chinese language the word heart immediately after has a direct meaning of “one of the bodily organs.” It seems very significant that the word heart in Orthodox culture, if you analyze the texts, has 8 meanings, one of which is the following: “organ of mental activity; consciousness; mind; reason”, for example: The people were waiting, and everyone was thinking in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ (Gospel of Luke 3:15); “Why have you put this in your heart?” (i.e. conceived, planned) (Acts of the Holy Apostles, 5:4)3. In modern speech practice, starting at least with mid-19th c., the concepts of “mind” and “heart” are opposed (su:, the mind and the heart are not in harmony, neither the mind nor the heart, etc.). By the way, these expressions are difficult for a native Chinese speaker to perceive and understand.
The Chinese concept of SOUL is also more complex than in the Russian consciousness, but this deserves separate consideration in another article. Here we can only say that this word is more preferable in translations of some Chinese sayings than the word heart found in them. For example: AiY^4^^" - "a person is old, but the soul (literally heart) is not old (= young)."
Thus, in both Russian and Chinese there is a rich phraseology. When comparing phraseological units with the components HEART and SOUL in the Russian and Chinese languages, both similarities and differences are observed. The similarity consists not only in the categorical properties of phraseological units (stability, reproducibility, integrity of meaning), but also in the commonality of many ideas, images on which phraseological units are built, in the “mechanisms” of phraseology (metaphor, metonymy), and in anthropocentricity. The differences are explained for various reasons- external (sources of phraseology, structure and grammatical properties of phraseological units) and internal ( national characteristics worldviews, differences in the linguistic picture of the world).
Accepted abbreviations
BAS ~ Dictionary of modern Russian literary language: In 17 t. M.; L., 1948-1965.
MAC - Dictionary of the Russian language: In 4 volumes / Under. ed. A.P. Evgenieva. M., 1981-1984.
1 Phrasebook Russian language / Ed. A.I. Molotkov. M., 1968.
2 See: Kornilov O.L. Pearls of Chinese phraseology. M., 2005. P. 74-75; Torchinov E.A. Taoism: Experience of historical and religious description. St. Petersburg, 1998.
3 For more details, see: Sklyarevskaya G.I. The heart in scripture. St. Petersburg, 2005.
The Chinese are a very hardworking and materialistic people who “plow” every day to provide for their needs and requirements. Residents of the Celestial Empire do not believe in God, very rarely help each other on the street in emergency situations, are constantly busy with work and related hassles, but nevertheless, their pride and welcoming mood can always be reinforced with a couple of simple, but so pleasant phrases in Chinese , which will encourage your interlocutor to communicate and make communication more open and simple.
1. 谢谢,老板 (xie xie lao ban) ~ Thank you boss!)))
How many emotions does this simple phrase evoke on the face of a Chinese person you barely know, be it a salesman in a store, a subway worker, or just a passer-by. Say this phrase to show that you know Chinese.
The “cult of laobang” in China has been developing since the times Ancient Civilization, but when a foreigner says the word “boss” in relation to a Chinese, it’s three times more pleasant.
2. 你英语说得那么厉害！(ni ying yu shuo de na me li hai) - Your level of English is amazing!
If a Chinese person tries to talk to you in English, even if it is further from ideal, praise it. Say this phrase - and the Chinese are 100% yours)
3. 我们交朋友吧 (wo men jiao peng you ba) - Let's be friends!
Here the Chinese are finally cleared of all doubts that you will not “get along culturally” - now there is no reason not to trust you. The Chinese is yours again!)
4. 我对中国文化很感兴趣 (wo dui zhong guo wen hua hen gan xing qu) - I have an incredible interest in Chinese culture!
The Chinese love their Motherland and are very proud of its history and modern achievements. Therefore, if you utter this phrase, they will immediately accept you as one of their own and understand that you really take China very seriously. You didn’t come here to “hang out in clubs,” but to develop. Start learning Chinese with this simple phrase)
5. 因为中国是一个世界上最强的国家 - (yin wei zhong guo shi yi ge shi jie shang zui qiang de guo jia) - Because China is the most powerful state in the world!
