辰 | chén

In Mandarin Chinese, 辰 (Pinyin: chén 🔊) is the fifth of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Dragon (龙) of the Chinese zodiac; the third month; the hour of the Dragon (7 am to 9 am, “the time when Dragons are hovering in the sky to give rain”); and the direction 120° (where 0° is north). Its associated “fixed element” is Earth, 土. Note that the character 龙 refers to any common-or-garden dragon while 辰 refers only to the zodiac dragon.

Uncle Hanzi says that 辰 is a pictogram of “an Egyptian type hoe, or hoe type plow”. According to Wikipedia,

It has been proposed by one academic researcher that the Earthly Branch character may have been associated with scorpions; it may have symbolized the star Antares.

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龙 | lóng

In Mandarin Chinese, 龙 (Pinyin: lóng 🔊) means “dragon”. Figuratively, it can mean “emperor”, “king”, “sovereign”, “chief”, “hero” and so on; and, by extension, “dragon-shaped object” and even “long object”. To me, this latter meaning offers a mnemonic for the pronunciation of 龙 (lóng).

The Dragon is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 辰. According to Wikipedia,

The Chinese dragon has very different connotations to European dragon — in European cultures, the dragon is a firebreathing creature with aggressive connotations, whereas the Chinese dragon is a spiritual and cultural symbol that represents prosperity and good luck, as well as a rain deity that fosters harmony.

龙 is a simplified (beyond any recognition) form of the traditional character 龍,

originally a serpent with prominent whiskered mouth and eyes. Current form developed in large seal script, with serpent’s body on right (tail at upper right, legs on right), whiskered/fanged mouth at lower left, and eyes/crown at upper left. Left side was subsequently simplified and abstracted, with some influence of 立 and ⺼/月

while Uncle Hanzi says that it is “probably originally a cobra. Meaning dragon”.

More photos related to dragons, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

巳 | sì

In Mandarin Chinese, 巳 (Pinyin: sì 🔊) is the sixth of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Snake (蛇) of the Chinese zodiac; the fourth month; the hour of the Snake (9 am to 11 am, “the time when Snakes are leaving their caves”); and the direction 150° (where 0° is north). Its associated “fixed element” is Fire, 火. Note that the character 蛇 refers to any (real or otherwise) snake while 巳 refers only to the zodiac animal.

To me, the character 巳 looks more like a snake (cobra?) than 蛇, the actual character for “snake”. However, according to Uncle Hanzi, it is a “pictograph of a swaddled baby”.

More photos related to snakes, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

蛇 | shé

In Mandarin Chinese, 蛇 (Pinyin: shé 🔊) means “snake”. The Snake is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 巳.

According to Wiktionary, 蛇 is a phono-semantic compound of “semantic” 虫 (“the character originally represented a type of venomous snake ... 虫 eventually came to represent worms and insects as well”) and “phonetic” 它 (now pronounced tā, so you’d never guess). 它 also originally meant “snake”, so 蛇 is like “snake snake”.

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冬 | dōng

In Mandarin Chinese, 冬 (Pinyin: dōng 🔊) is a noun that means “winter”. 冬 is also an alternative form of 咚, an onomatopoeic word that could be translated as “rat-a-tat-tat” (if it is a repeating sound like knocking on a door) or “bang”, “boom”, “thud”, “thump” (if it is a sound of something falling).

As for the origin of 冬, Lawrence J. Howell in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters provides the following explanation:

Originally, a depiction of food tied to a cord that winds about a peg. A seal inscription form adds 氷 <he must have meant 仌> ice → winter (season when preserved / stored food is consumed). Compare 蓄.

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虫 | chóng

In Mandarin Chinese, 虫 (Pinyin: chóng) is a word for “insect”, “bug”, “worm”, or, in Old Chinese, an animal in general. A compound of 大 and 虫, 大虫 (dàchóng), means “large insect”, but also has another, “literary or dialectal, euphemistic” meaning: “tiger”. (Good thing they eventually came up with less ambiguous 虎.)

According to Wiktionary,

The character originally represented a type of venomous snake, while the derivative 蟲 represented worms and insects (or insect-like things). 虫 eventually came to represent worms and insects as well, and the character 虺 was created to represent the original meaning.

To me, 虫 on its own looks like a pictogram of a flying (from left to right) insect, and nothing like a snake. It is considered to be a ”simplified” form of the traditional character 蟲, however, it seems more logical to consider 蟲 a “complicated” form of 虫. After all, 蟲 is just a pile of three 虫s. Another meaning of 蟲, “plague of insects”, makes perfect sense then.

虫 is also a radical that is found in many other hanzi. We saw it before as a part of 風, the traditional form of 风 (fēng). This is because “Ancient Chinese thought insects appear with wind”.

More photos related to insects and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

寅 | yín

In Mandarin Chinese, 寅 (Pinyin: yín 🔊) is the third of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Tiger (虎) of the Chinese zodiac; the first month; the hour of the Tiger (3 am to 5 am, “the time when Tigers hunt their prey more and show their ferocity”); and the direction 60° (where 0° is north). Its associated “fixed element” is Wood, 木. Note that the character 虎 refers to an actual tiger while 寅 refers to the zodiac animal.

In classical Chinese, 寅 also means “respect”. Sure, tigers have to be respected. As for origin of the character, Uncle Hanzi mentions “hands straightening an arrow”.

More photos related to tigers, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.