椅 _i_ "a chair," and so on.

So 魚 _yü_ "a fish" and 鳥 _niao_ "a bird" are found in all characters of
ichthyological or ornithological types, respectively.

人 _jen_ "a man" is found in a large number of characters dealing with
humanity under varied aspects; _e.g._ 你 _ni_ "thou," 他 _t'a_ "he," 作
_tso_ "to make," 仗 _chang_ "a weapon," 傑 _chieh_ "a hero," 儒 _ju_
"a scholar," "a Confucianist"; while it has been pointed out that such
words as 奸 _chien_ "treacherous," 媚 _mei_ "to flatter," and 妒 _tu_
"jealousy," are all written with the indicator 女 _nü_ "woman" at the
side.

The question now arises how these significant parts got into their
present position. Have they always been there, and was the script
artificially constructed off-hand, as is the case with Mongolian and
Manchu? The answer to this question can hardly be presented in a few
words, but involves the following considerations.

It seems to be quite certain that in very early times, when the
possibility and advantage of committing thought to writing first
suggested themselves to the Chinese mind, rude pictures of _things_
formed the whole stock in trade. Such were

[Illustration: Sun, moon, mountains, hand, child, wood, bending official,
mouth, ox, and claws.]

in many of which it is not difficult to trace the modern forms of
to-day,