What is the origin of the word Fu and the evolution of the glyph

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-03-04

Fu is one of the characters with profound cultural connotations and auspicious meanings in Chinese characters, and its origin can be traced back to the oracle bone inscription of the Shang Dynasty. The following is the detailed origin and evolution of the word Fu:

OnePrimitive form

According to the research of archaeologists and paleographers, the word Fu was first seen in the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, which has a history of nearly 3,700 years. The word "Fu" in the oracle bone inscription is vivid, like holding a wine bottle in both hands, which indicates the scene of the ancients using wine to sacrifice to the gods to pray for blessings from heaven.

IIGlyph evolution

1.Starting from the oracle bone inscription, the form of the character "Fu" has undergone different stages of evolution, such as Jinwen, Seal Script, Lishu, and Kaishu. In early oracle bone inscriptions, the upper part of the character Fu resembles a hand holding a wine vessel for sacrifice, and the lower part may represent an altar or a place where the sacrifice was received.

2.In the Jin inscriptions of the Zhou Dynasty, the basic shape of the character "Fu" retains the image of serving wine with both hands, but the structure is more abstract, and gradually forms the rudiments of the partial "show", which is usually associated with sacrifices and prayers in ancient Chinese characters.

3.After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, the text reform was implemented, and the small seal became the official language, and the word "Fu" was further standardized in the small seal style, and the meaning of sacrifice was more clearly reflected next to the "show" on the left side, and the right side evolved into the character "畐" (pronounced the same as Fu), which symbolizes abundance and abundance, which means the vessel of abundance, and contains the meaning of rich blessings.

4.During the period of official script and regular script, the form of the character "Fu" was further simplified and formalized, forming the writing style that we are familiar with today.

Blessed

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