Patients’ conditions are vividly shown in the Chinese character for illness (疾)
Coronavirus should be one of the most searchable words on different search engines in 2020.
The Covid-19-led illness causes big impacts to the world and people.
The Chinese character for illness (疾) actually shows you why the patients fall ill, their symptom and condition.
Frank the tour guide is going to show you the interesting details of the Chinese character for illness.
It is obvious that vaccines can be the most searchable word on internet in 2021.
Frank hopes the vaccines can defeat the Covid-19 and people can travel again.
Thus Frank gets the chance to share the stories of Chinese characters with clients during his Hong Kong private tour service.
Chinese character for illness (疾) vividly shows patients’ reason for falling ill, symptom and condition
People may fall ill.
Chinese people accurately and vividly recorded why the patients fall ill, their symptom and condition in the Chinese character for illness.
Now the character for illness “疾” consists of two parts, “疒” and “矢”.
The left is the Chinese character for illness today. The right is the Oracle-bone inscription for the character in the past. It is combined by an “arrow” on the left and a “man” on the right. The arrow pierces the armpit of a man. The arrow symbolizes the reasons for falling ill, germ infection or virus infection.
The more or less 3600 years’ old Oracle-bone inscription for illness clearly shows the arrow pierces a man’s armpit.
The arrow of course injures the man.
Arrow (矢) in the Oracle-bone inscription for illness, which pierces a man’s armpit, symbolizes the germs and virus for causing illness.
The arrow can also represents germs and virus, which cause people to fall ill.
Thus soldiers use the shield to protect themselves on the battlefields.
Roman soldiers used shield to protect themselves against enemies’ arrows and spears.
People should wear a mask to protect ourselves during the pandemic.
Frank the tour guide is wearing mask.
In the past, “疒” was actually a character independently and also meant illness.
Order of strokes of “疒” observed in calligraphy (From Wikipedia)
One Oracle-bone inscription for “疒” shows the patient has a big belly, which symbolizes the symptoms, belly ache, diarrhea etc.
The Oracle-bone inscriptions for another character for illness. The bottom left inscription shows a patient has a big belly (the little circle), which means he has the belly ache and diarrhea. All three inscriptions have the “dots” next to the patients, which symbolize sweat. The sick men are lying down on the beds.
They are also the symptoms of new Coronavirus.
Hong Kong SAR Government finds out that some patients are infected due to the leaking sewage.
Thus please inspect your sewage in your own flats or houses.
During the ordeal, the weak patient can only lie down on the bed to take a rest.
The Oracle-bone inscription vividly shows the weak patient is lying down on the bed to take rest.
The “dots” around the patient vividly show the poor wretch sweats a lot!
If we rotate the Oracle-bone inscription for illness, it may be easier for Westerners to understand. The top is the sweating patient with belly ache and diarrhea (Foots on the left. Big belly in the middle. Head on the right). The bottom is the bed for the patient to lye down to take a rest.
Nowadays “疒” is only a rare Chinese character and is mainly used as a radical, which is for arranging and finding the characters in Chinese dictionary.
Characters relate to illness have the same radical “疒”.
“疾” is a good example and a general character for illness.
Cancer “癌”, hernia “疝” and insanity “瘋” are other examples for a specific illness.
When the character 疾 is used as an adjective, it actually means “very quick” and “very fast”.
Horses run quickly on the track. Chinese uses “疾” to describe the running of the racing horses or sports cars.
Some Covid-19 patients’ condition can deteriorate very quickly.
Please consult the doctor quickly if you have symptoms!
Frank hopes vaccines can defeat Covid-19 illness in 2021
Frank the tour guide does think that vaccines can be one of the most searchable words on different search engines in 2021.
Frank really hopes vaccines can beat the illness.
People can travel again.
Thus Frank can share the interesting stories of Chinese characters during his Hong Kong private tour.
See you in 2021!
See amazing view of Victoria Harbor at Victoria Peak during our half day private car tour.
Visit beautiful Nan Lian Garden during Hong Kong Kowloon full day private car tour.
Visit the World heritage building, St Paul’s Ruins, during our full day Macau private car tour.
For further questions, please contact Frank
