Thursday, April 3, 2008
爱。。。LOVE
Traditional Chinese Character of "LOVE"
Love, or "Ai" as it is called in chinese, has a story to tell on its own as they are derived from elements they are associated with. Just by looking at the traditional Chinese character of "LOVE" above, one can find the Chinese character "HEART" (心) embedded within. Definitely, the heart has got a part to play especially in LOVE, else, why would the Chinese even come out with this saying of "爱得用心去经营" or "LOVE has to be managed by HEART".In the game of love, many a times you will find that you cannot always make sense out of things by using your brain and thinking logically. Instead, most of the time, it is always the case of following what your heart tells you to. For example, "willing to do anything for your the other half" is like a knee-jerk response that does not need any thinking, it just comes straight from the heart.Besides the obvious "HEART" (心) that can be easily recognized from the traditional chinese character of "LOVE", it also comprises of "HAND", "HOUSE" and "RELATIONSHIP"1) Hand - the stroke and 3 dots on top signifies a claw (爪) or hand2) House - the "cover-like" strokes in the middle of the chinese character " represents shelter or house3) Heart- 心 found right below of 2)4) Relationship - 友 at the bottom most of the Chinese character represents friendship or rather, relationshipThe traditional Chinese character of "LOVE" was derived from these 4 elements in the olden days by the ancient Chinese's basic understanding of love. A simple explanation to the derivation of the Chinese character is that the pair of hands is used to build a house to shelter the friendship which later on will grow into a deeper relationship.Presently, "爱" is now used in placed of the traditional Chinese character shown above. The simplification of the Chinese character has resulted in the "HEART" (心) being omitted out. Some have argued that the omission of the "HEART" (心) had resulted in the dilution of the meaning of LOVE as LOVE cannot work without the HEART. While some others have else to say..."...重要的不是把心放在爱里，而是把爱放进心里..."
(...more importantly, its not about placing the "HEART" into "LOVE", but placing love in your heart...)
Labels: analysis, character, chinese, definition, hand, hearts, house, love, meaning, meaningful, post, relationship, traditional, 爱
12:03 AM
Love, or "Ai" as it is called in chinese, has a story to tell on its own as they are derived from elements they are associated with. Just by looking at the traditional Chinese character of "LOVE" above, one can find the Chinese character "HEART" (心) embedded within. Definitely, the heart has got a part to play especially in LOVE, else, why would the Chinese even come out with this saying of "爱得用心去经营" or "LOVE has to be managed by HEART".
