How to learn Chinese characters

Hi everyone, I'm Ali. Today we'll learn a few Chinese characters. I use different colors to simulate different characters, so you can better understand the evolution of Chinese characters. Red color is a bronze inscription. Golden color is a bronze inscription. Green color is a small inscription. Black color is a yellow edges traditional character. Black color is a simplified character. Okay, let's get started. This character is very simple, only two strokes. Its original meaning is to pull something apart with both hands. This gesture simulates number 8 in China. In ancient China, people invented this gesture to simulate numbers. It made our life easier, especially for doing business. When the buyer and seller bargain in public, like book trading or especially antique business, they do not want other people know the price. So they would put their hands into the sleeves and bargain with the gestures. This is a gesture for 10 numbers. This character pronounced as Nian. Bronze inscription is like two pillars supporting the roof. And this is a traditional Chinese architecture. The original meaning of this character is roof. But today we don't use the long. We use it as an important radical. We call it Bǎo Gài Tóu, roof radical. On the top is a roof radical. On the bottom is a number 8. This picture could well explain this character. Over 5000 years ago, people in China lived in this kind of pit house. This picture is the rooms. On the top is a roof made of tree trunks. These holes are for the supporting pillars. On the bottom is a pit digging by people with hands. This character is Xué. Xí Yué Xué. It means cave, hole. On the top is a roof radical, like a roof of a cave. On the bottom is a character 8. It means use two hands to dig a hole. It's also an important radical. We call it Xué Bǎo Gài, cave radical. This character is Zǐ. Zǐ yí Zǐ. It means son, child, seed, master. Archibald inscription is like a baby. This is the head, hair, and this is the body and arms. Bronze inscription is more vivid. In small inscription, you can see the head, the body, and the arms. And this character is Zǐ. Zǐ yí Zǐ. It means word, character. On the top is a roof radical, refers a house. On the bottom is a character Zǐ, refers pronunciation. Also means a kid. This character means Chinese characters are composed of different radicals and basic characters. And these characters are treated like children. Bā zì. Eight characters. The eight characters of birth refers to the Gan Zhi calendar date of a person's birth. It consists of four parts of characters, with each pair representing the year, month, day, and hour of the birth, respectively. Each pair is composed of one heavenly stem and one earthly branch, altogether eight characters. In Chinese folk beliefs, the eight characters of birth hold significant importance. Ancient Chinese toys and fortune tellers used them to predict a person's fate, believing that the combination and interaction of these eight characters can reveal a person's destiny, personality, and the good or bad luck in life. In ancient times, it was also used in marriage matching to check whether the couple's fates were compatible. It should be noted that although the eight characters of birth are an important part of Chinese traditional culture, there's no scientific basis to prove it. It's more like a cultural heritage and a kind of folk belief. Bā zì méi yǒu yì pǐ. Literally, it means there's still not one stroke after character Bā. They describe a situation where things have not yet started or made any progress, and there's no sign of success. It implies that the foundation or initial stage of something is still lacking, so it is too early to talk about the outcome. For example, if someone say their plan to start a company is still Bā zì méi yǒu yì pǐ, it means that the plan is still in a very early stage with no concrete step to taking it. OK, that's all for today. See you next time. Bye-bye.