<p>On a system level, there was never a movement of simplification until the early 20th century. Chinese characters developed from less refined writing techniques and simpler shapes to more standardised writing styles and characters with more complex structures. This is because simple shapes have two (possibly related) problems:</p>

<ul>
<li>They're too easy to confuse with other simple shapes;</li>
<li>You can only make so many simple shapes, and there isn't enough of them to represent the basic units of the language.</li>
</ul>

<p>Chinese characters thus naturally piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. Simplifications are therefore relatively <em>rare</em>, and are only one kind of process of how characters have changed in general. <strong>Exclusive simplifications</strong> (which make a former character obsolete) are close to nonexistent.</p>

<p>This being said, one can sometimes find individual characters that were known to be unambiguously simplified at one stage from a previously more complex character. I'll show two examples, the first which people would be more familiar with but doesn't really fulfil the criterion <code>earliest</code>, the second to actually fulfil this criterion (in an approximate sense).</p>

<hr>

<h3>「与」</h3>

<p>「与」is ultimately a corruption of「牙」. As is already known,「与」is a simplified variant of「與」.</p>

<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">春秋</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">金</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/d1yxU.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/d1yxU.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>⿱止高君鉦鋮<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=423&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成423</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">戰國</a>・<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_(state)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楚</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">簡</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Eo3wl.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Eo3wl.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>106<br>曾侯乙墓竹簡</kbd><kbd><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_seal_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">篆</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/54HGU.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/54HGU.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;file=77389&amp;page=96" rel="nofollow noreferrer">舁部</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">說文解字</a></kbd><kbd>今<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楷</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bRKqD.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bRKqD.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou" rel="nofollow noreferrer">西周</a><br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xvWIw.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xvWIw.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>⿸尸⿱罒丌敖<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4213&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成4213</a></kbd><kbd>戰國・楚<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>語叢3.9<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guodian_Chu_Slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">荊門郭店楚簡</a></kbd><kbd><br>篆<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cg945.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/cg945.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;file=77389&amp;page=75" rel="nofollow noreferrer">牙部</a><br>說文解字</kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han" rel="nofollow noreferrer">東漢</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隸</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/pLV09.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/pLV09.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>斥彰長田君斷<br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/MyRL7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/MyRL7.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<p>「與」(<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baxter-Sagart OC</a>: <strong>/*m-q(r)aʔ/</strong>) is comprised of semantic <em>four hands</em>「又又」and phonetic「牙」(<strong>/*m-ɢˤ&lt;r&gt;a/</strong>).</p>

<p>「牙」was a common phonetic loan for「與」in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Warring States period</a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Han Dynasty</a>. Over time,「牙」suffered some shape changes into「与」<em>inside</em> the character「與」(changes <em>outside</em> as a stand-alone character resulted into the modern form of「牙」instead). This leads on to the <em>Shuowen</em> erroneously describing「与」as a component of「與」, and「与」as a separate character from「牙」:</p>

<p><kbd>戰國・楚<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>語叢3.9<br>荊門郭店楚簡</kbd><kbd><br>篆<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/kh1Sh.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/kh1Sh.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;file=77392&amp;page=80" rel="nofollow noreferrer">勺部</a><br>說文解字</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/iZ1dQ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/iZ1dQ.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<ul>
<li><p><strong>《說文》：＂與，黨與也。从舁，从与。，古文與。＂</strong> ✘✘ (「与」is not a separate character from「牙」. Should be <strong>从舁，牙聲</strong>)</p></li>
<li><p><strong>《說文》：＂与，賜予也。一勺為与。此与與同。＂</strong> ✘✘ (<em>Shuowen</em> shouldn't have this entry at all)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>The current form of「与」is a result of an incorrect shape analysis from <em>Shuowen</em> (<a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21413/%e7%9f%a2-how-does-it-look-like-an-arrow/36185#36185">hence why using <em>Shuowen</em> to demonstrate glyph evolution without checking  modern publications on the subject can lead to serious errors</a>), and is really just「與」, inclusive of its corrupted「牙」component, stripped of its four hands「又又」.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>As mentioned earlier, Chinese characters piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. 《荊門郭店楚簡》語叢3.9 is an example where「牙」is used as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus#Rebus_principle" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>phonetic loan</em> or <em>rebus</em></a> for「與」. What happens when you start using phonetic loan characters? <em>You need another character to represent the original meaning</em>, here demonstrated by piling on more components on to「牙」to distinguish its uses.</p>
  
  <p><kbd>戰國・楚<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/TemOO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/TemOO.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>165<br>曾侯乙墓竹簡</kbd><kbd><br>隸定<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dDM3v.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dDM3v.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>「」<br>　</kbd></p>
  
  <p>「」is a precursor to「齖」, which has even more components; what looks like「臼」in this character is a shape-approximation of the same picture which forms the bottom part of「齒」.</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<h3>「⿻人一」(Simplification of「伐」)</h3>

<p>Exclusively found in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Shang Dynasty</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone" rel="nofollow noreferrer">oracle bones</a>, the simplified form was dropped relatively quickly.</p>

<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1uGTH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1uGTH.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">前</a>7.15.4<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=6540&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集6540</a></kbd><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DT4pb.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DT4pb.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">佚</a>328<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=6363&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集6363正</a></kbd></p>

<p>「伐」(<em>to behead</em> > <em>kill</em> > <em>attack</em>) is a picture of a <em>person</em>「人」and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger-axe" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>dagger-axe</em></a>「戈」, where earlier forms deliberately drew the blade of「戈」across the neck of「人」, emphasising the meaning <em>to behead</em>.</p>

<p><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8JNEh.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8JNEh.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>大保簋<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4140&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成4140</a></kbd><kbd>春秋・楚<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ltG61.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ltG61.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>南疆鉦<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=428&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成428</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/NuOHM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/NuOHM.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>日書乙種128<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/KdCa3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/KdCa3.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<p>In the simplified form (佚328 and others), most of the shape of「戈」is removed, with only the blade across the neck remaining. The following is a text sample to demonstrate the usage of this shape.</p>

<blockquote>
  <h3><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=18&amp;bh=502&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">《殷虛文字丙編》502</a></h3>
  
  <p>The following text contains both「伐」and its reduced form「⿻人一」, both shown in red. Reading order given by circled numbers ①—⑭.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/IfJGG.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/IfJGG.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>甲午卜，爭鼎（貞）：羽（翌）乙未用羌？用。（之）日⿱隹（陰）。</p>
  
  <p>(<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%94%B2%E5%8D%88#Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Jiǎwǔ</em></a> [甲午] <em>day</em> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>divination</em></a> [卜]) <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Oracle <em>Zhēng</em></a> [爭] asked [貞]:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"On the day of <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%99%E6%9C%AA" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>yǐwèi</em></a> [乙未] in the period of <em>yì</em> [翌], <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice#China" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sacrifice</a> [<em>use</em>, 用] a  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiang_(historical_people)" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Qiāng</em></a> person?"
  
  <ul>
  <li>(<em>Divined a positive result</em>) "Confirm sacrifice [用]." </li>
  <li>"That [之] day [日] is cloudy/overcast [陰]".</li>
  </ul></li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>甲午卜，爭鼎：羽乙未勿⿻⿰目目（瞿）用羌？</p>
  
  <p>(<em>Jiǎwǔ day divination</em>) Oracle <em>Zhēng</em> asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"On the day of <em>yǐwèi</em> in the period of <em>yì</em>, don't [勿] sacrifice a <em>Qiāng</em> person?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：羽乙未用羌？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"On the day of <em>yǐwèi</em> in the period of <em>yì</em>, sacrifice a <em>Qiāng</em> person?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>乙未卜，（賓）鼎：以⿱戈止（武）芻？</p>
  
  <p>(<em>Yǐwèi day divination</em>) <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Oracle <em>Bīn</em></a> [] asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will the farmers [<em>grass cutters for animal feeding</em>, 芻] be brought over [以] from the land of <em>Wǔ</em> [⿱戈止]?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>以⿱戈止芻？</p>
  
  <p>(Asked again:)</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will the farmers be brought over from the land of <em>Wǔ</em>?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：弗（其）以⿱戈止芻？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will the farmers not [弗] be brought over from the land of <em>Wǔ</em>?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>㞢（侑）于唐子，「伐」？</p>
  
  <p>(Asked:)</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"To return favours [侑] to [于] our ancestor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shang" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Tang</em></a> [唐子], shall we conduct a <strong>beheading [伐]</strong> ritual?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：乎（呼）取⿱子止，「⿻人一」？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Beckon [呼] someone to grab [取] a sacrificial person [⿱子止] for a <strong>beheading [⿻人一]</strong> ritual?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：（燎）于土（社）？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Conduct a bonfire [燎] ritual for the regional gods [社]?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>㞢于父乙？</p>
  
  <p>(Asked:)</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Return favours for our ancestor King <em>Fùyǐ</em> [父乙]?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：（王）㝱（夢），隹（禍）？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"The king [王] had a dream [夢], will there be disaster [禍]?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>不隹？</p>
  
  <p>(Asked:)</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will there not [不] be disaster?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：（疒）罒（目）？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will the king suffer an eye [目] disease [疒]?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  <li><p>鼎：弗罒？</p>
  
  <p>Asked:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>"Will the king not suffer an eye disease?"</li>
  </ul></li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p><strong>References:</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>杜忠誥《說文篆文訛形釋例》</li>
<li>季旭昇《說文新證》</li>
<li>劉翔・陳抗・陳初生・董琨　編　李學勤　審訂《商周古文字讀本》</li>
<li>何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》</li>
<li><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">小學堂</a></li>
<li><a href="http://chinese-linguipedia.org/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中華語文知識庫</a>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://chinese-linguipedia.org/search_source.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">漢字源流</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國學大師</a>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">郭沫若《甲骨文合集》</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=18&amp;bh=%EF%BC%90&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">張秉權《殷虛文字丙編》</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="https://ctext.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國哲學書電子化計劃</a>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&amp;res=77351" rel="nofollow noreferrer">宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">漢語多功能字庫</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-05T15:45:28.060Z
2020-01-24T01:05:27.730Z
2020-01-24T01:05:27.730Z
dROOOze
<p>It seems that there are many "<em>simplifications</em>" in cursive that have existed for far longer than <strong>Simplified Chinese characters</strong> have.</p>

<p>There are some mentions of this here: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/35577/4136">How do I find the rules used to create the simplified version of the characters?</a> between @EnricoBrasil and @droooze.</p>

<p>My question is, what are the earliest examples of "simplification"? Perhaps it can be seen in the standardization of cursive. Ideas?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-05T05:35:29.270Z
You're not specifically asking about regularisation of cursive, right? Cursive (as we know it) wasn't invented until long after the Warring States period. There are other kinds of simplification.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-05T06:12:40.560Z
@droooze No, not specifically. I was just stabbing in the dark at what might be a possible solution.
Mou某
<simplified-characters>
What are the earliest examples of "simplification"?
# What are the earliest examples of "simplification"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-05)

It seems that there are many "*simplifications*" in cursive that have existed for far longer than **Simplified Chinese characters** have.

There are some mentions of this here: [How do I find the rules used to create the simplified version of the characters?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/35577/4136) between @EnricoBrasil and @username_1.

My question is, what are the earliest examples of "simplification"? Perhaps it can be seen in the standardization of cursive. Ideas?

**Tags:** simplified-characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You're not specifically asking about regularisation of cursive, right? Cursive (as we know it) wasn't invented until long after the Warring States period. There are other kinds of simplification.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 No, not specifically. I was just stabbing in the dark at what might be a possible solution.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-05. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

On a system level, there was never a movement of simplification until the early 20th century. Chinese characters developed from less refined writing techniques and simpler shapes to more standardised writing styles and characters with more complex structures. This is because simple shapes have two (possibly related) problems:

* They're too easy to confuse with other simple shapes;
* You can only make so many simple shapes, and there isn't enough of them to represent the basic units of the language.

Chinese characters thus naturally piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. Simplifications are therefore relatively *rare*, and are only one kind of process of how characters have changed in general. **Exclusive simplifications** (which make a former character obsolete) are close to nonexistent.

This being said, one can sometimes find individual characters that were known to be unambiguously simplified at one stage from a previously more complex character. I'll show two examples, the first which people would be more familiar with but doesn't really fulfil the criterion `earliest`, the second to actually fulfil this criterion (in an approximate sense).

---

### 「与」

「与」is ultimately a corruption of「牙」. As is already known,「与」is a simplified variant of「與」.

`春秋  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/d1yxU.png)  
⿱止高君鉦鋮  
集成423``戰國・楚  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Eo3wl.png)  
106  
曾侯乙墓竹簡` `篆  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/54HGU.png)  
舁部  
說文解字``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bRKqD.png)`

`西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/xvWIw.png)  
⿸尸⿱罒丌敖  
集成4213``戰國・楚  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png)  
語叢3.9  
荊門郭店楚簡` `篆  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/cg945.png)  
牙部  
說文解字``東漢  
隸  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/pLV09.png)  
斥彰長田君斷``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/MyRL7.png)`

「與」([Baxter-Sagart OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)): **/\*m-q(r)aʔ/**) is comprised of semantic *four hands*「又又」and phonetic「牙」(**/\*m-ɢˤ<r>a/**).

「牙」was a common phonetic loan for「與」in the [Warring States period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period) to the [Han Dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty). Over time,「牙」suffered some shape changes into「与」*inside* the character「與」(changes *outside* as a stand-alone character resulted into the modern form of「牙」instead). This leads on to the *Shuowen* erroneously describing「与」as a component of「與」, and「与」as a separate character from「牙」:

`戰國・楚  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/rM5Tn.png)  
語叢3.9  
荊門郭店楚簡` `篆  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/kh1Sh.png)  
勺部  
說文解字``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/iZ1dQ.png)`

* **《說文》：＂與，黨與也。从舁，从与。，古文與。＂** ✘✘ (「与」is not a separate character from「牙」. Should be **从舁，牙聲**)
* **《說文》：＂与，賜予也。一勺為与。此与與同。＂** ✘✘ (*Shuowen* shouldn't have this entry at all)

The current form of「与」is a result of an incorrect shape analysis from *Shuowen* ([hence why using *Shuowen* to demonstrate glyph evolution without checking modern publications on the subject can lead to serious errors](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/21413/%e7%9f%a2-how-does-it-look-like-an-arrow/36185#36185)), and is really just「與」, inclusive of its corrupted「牙」component, stripped of its four hands「又又」.

> As mentioned earlier, Chinese characters piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. 《荊門郭店楚簡》語叢3.9 is an example where「牙」is used as a [*phonetic loan* or *rebus*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus#Rebus_principle) for「與」. What happens when you start using phonetic loan characters? *You need another character to represent the original meaning*, here demonstrated by piling on more components on to「牙」to distinguish its uses.
>
> `戰國・楚  
> 簡  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/TemOO.png)  
> 165  
> 曾侯乙墓竹簡` `隸定  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/dDM3v.png)  
> 「」`
>
> 「」is a precursor to「齖」, which has even more components; what looks like「臼」in this character is a shape-approximation of the same picture which forms the bottom part of「齒」.

---

### 「⿻人一」(Simplification of「伐」)

Exclusively found in [Shang Dynasty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty) [oracle bones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone), the simplified form was dropped relatively quickly.

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/1uGTH.png)  
前7.15.4  
合集6540``商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DT4pb.png)  
佚328  
合集6363正`

「伐」(*to behead* > *kill* > *attack*) is a picture of a *person*「人」and a [*dagger-axe*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger-axe)「戈」, where earlier forms deliberately drew the blade of「戈」across the neck of「人」, emphasising the meaning *to behead*.

`西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8JNEh.png)  
大保簋  
集成4140``春秋・楚  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ltG61.png)  
南疆鉦  
集成428``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/NuOHM.png)  
日書乙種128  
睡虎地秦簡``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/KdCa3.png)`

In the simplified form (佚328 and others), most of the shape of「戈」is removed, with only the blade across the neck remaining. The following is a text sample to demonstrate the usage of this shape.

> ### [《殷虛文字丙編》502](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=18&bh=502&jgwfl=)
>
> The following text contains both「伐」and its reduced form「⿻人一」, both shown in red. Reading order given by circled numbers ①—⑭.
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/IfJGG.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/IfJGG.jpg)
>
> 1. 甲午卜，爭鼎（貞）：羽（翌）乙未用羌？用。（之）日⿱隹（陰）。
>
>    ([*Jiǎwǔ*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%94%B2%E5%8D%88#Chinese) [甲午] *day* [*divination*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone) [卜]) [Oracle *Zhēng*](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA) [爭] asked [貞]:
>
>    * "On the day of [*yǐwèi*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B9%99%E6%9C%AA) [乙未] in the period of *yì* [翌], [sacrifice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice#China) [*use*, 用] a [*Qiāng*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiang_(historical_people)) person?"
>      + (*Divined a positive result*) "Confirm sacrifice [用]."
>      + "That [之] day [日] is cloudy/overcast [陰]".
> 2. 甲午卜，爭鼎：羽乙未勿⿻⿰目目（瞿）用羌？
>
>    (*Jiǎwǔ day divination*) Oracle *Zhēng* asked:
>
>    * "On the day of *yǐwèi* in the period of *yì*, don't [勿] sacrifice a *Qiāng* person?"
> 3. 鼎：羽乙未用羌？
>
>    Asked:
>
>    * "On the day of *yǐwèi* in the period of *yì*, sacrifice a *Qiāng* person?"
> 4. 乙未卜，（賓）鼎：以⿱戈止（武）芻？
>
>    (*Yǐwèi day divination*) [Oracle *Bīn*](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA) [] asked:
>
>    * "Will the farmers [*grass cutters for animal feeding*, 芻] be brought over [以] from the land of *Wǔ* [⿱戈止]?"
> 5. 以⿱戈止芻？
>
>    (Asked again:)
>
>    * "Will the farmers be brought over from the land of *Wǔ*?"
> 6. 鼎：弗（其）以⿱戈止芻？
>
>    Asked:
>
>    * "Will the farmers not [弗] be brought over from the land of *Wǔ*?"
> 7. 㞢（侑）于唐子，「伐」？
>
>    (Asked:)
>
>    * "To return favours [侑] to [于] our ancestor [*Tang*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_of_Shang) [唐子], shall we conduct a **beheading [伐]** ritual?"
> 8. 鼎：乎（呼）取⿱子止，「⿻人一」？
>
>    Asked:
>
>    * "Beckon [呼] someone to grab [取] a sacrificial person [⿱子止] for a **beheading [⿻人一]** ritual?"
> 9. 鼎：（燎）于土（社）？
>
>    Asked:
>
>    * "Conduct a bonfire [燎] ritual for the regional gods [社]?"
> 10. 㞢于父乙？
>
>     (Asked:)
>
>     * "Return favours for our ancestor King *Fùyǐ* [父乙]?"
> 11. 鼎：（王）㝱（夢），隹（禍）？
>
>     Asked:
>
>     * "The king [王] had a dream [夢], will there be disaster [禍]?"
> 12. 不隹？
>
>     (Asked:)
>
>     * "Will there not [不] be disaster?"
> 13. 鼎：（疒）罒（目）？
>
>     Asked:
>
>     * "Will the king suffer an eye [目] disease [疒]?"
> 14. 鼎：弗罒？
>
>     Asked:
>
>     * "Will the king not suffer an eye disease?"

---

**References:**

* 杜忠誥《說文篆文訛形釋例》
* 季旭昇《說文新證》
* 劉翔・陳抗・陳初生・董琨　編　李學勤　審訂《商周古文字讀本》
* 何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》
* [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
* [中華語文知識庫](http://chinese-linguipedia.org/index.html)
  + [漢字源流](http://chinese-linguipedia.org/search_source.html)
* [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)
  + [郭沫若《甲骨文合集》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/)
  + [中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/)
  + [張秉權《殷虛文字丙編》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=18&bh=%EF%BC%90&jgwfl=)
* [中國哲學書電子化計劃](https://ctext.org/)
  + [宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》](https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&res=77351)
* [漢語多功能字庫](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/)


---

