One character a day, easy to master Chinese characters. Let’s take a look at the basic knowledge of “丘”.
丘 qiū | |
Explnantion: mound | |
Phrases: 丘陵(qiū línɡ) hills ;山丘(shān qiū) small hillocks |
“丘” (Qiu, hillock) is an associative compound as well as a self-explanatory character. In oracle bone inscriptions, it looks like two hillocks standing parallel on the ground. Hence the character means natural mounds. In the small seal script, the two hillocks are higher than that in oracle bone inscriptions. In the standard script, the character is simplified to what it looks like now. Although the shape is no longer suggestive of the original meaning, its meaning remains unchanged.
From the original meaning of “丘” comes the meaning “raised like a mound”, and the character can refer to any hillock. “丘” is the name of Confucius, the renowned Chinese thinker and educationist in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is said that before he was born, his parents used to pray in front of Mountain Niqiu, so he was named “丘”. The character is also a family name, but it is sometimes written as “邱” (Qiu) because of the taboo against using the name of Confucius.
Sentences:
这是一次长达65英里的环绕好望角丘陵的行程。
春天来了,山丘上长出了小草的嫩芽。