Why is pearl next to the word "wang"?

Why is pearl next to the word "wang"?

Recently, cultural discussions about Chinese character radicals have become one of the hot topics on the Internet. Among them, the question "Why is pearl next to the word Wang?" has attracted widespread attention and even made it to the hot search list on social media. This article will analyze this interesting phenomenon for you from three perspectives: linguistics, history and culture, and Internet hot spots.

1. Linguistic analysis: the true meaning of the word "王"

In modern Chinese, the word "王之平" is actually mostly related to "jade". During the evolution of Chinese characters, the shapes of the characters "王" and "玉" were similar, which led to many characters with "yu" as the radical being classified as "wang". The following is a comparison of typical examples:

2. Historical and cultural tracing

1.Oracle period: The character "玉" is originally an image of three horizontal and one vertical strings of jade, which is very similar to the character "王".
2.Xiaozhuan shaping: The "Jade" part is clearly separated in "Shuowen Jiezi" of the Han Dynasty, but it is still often confused in folk writing.
3.modern norms: In the current Chinese character system, when "yu" is used as the left radical, it is written as "王", forming a special "slanted jade side".

Statistics of hotly discussed opinions on the Internet (data in the past 10 days):

3. Network hotspot extension

1.tiktok challenge：#王子平的 Knowledge has been viewed 120 million times, and users have taken videos of Chinese character analysis.
2.Weibo voting: The discussion on "Whether the radical labeling of pearls should be corrected" has attracted more than 500,000 participants.
3.E-commerce linkage: Jewelry merchants took advantage of the situation to launch the "Oblique Jade Beside" series of products, with weekly sales increasing by 300%.

Timeline of related hot search topics:

4. The cultural symbol of pearls

Through this hot discussion on the Internet, we discovered the special status of pearls in Chinese characters:
-material level: As the only gemstone conceived by living organisms
-literal level: Showing its precious attributes through the word "王(jade)"
-cultural level: Carrying the beautiful meaning of "treasure" and "perfection"

A new interpretation of this by contemporary young netizens:

5. Supplementary opinions from experts

Professor Wang, a linguist and philologist, said in an interview: "This phenomenon of radical evolution is not unique among Chinese characters. Similar examples include the word 'shi' that is related to sacrifices, and the word 'bei' that is related to wealth. The 'wang' character of pearl just proves the unique wisdom of the Chinese character system of 'using shape to express meaning.'"

This hot discussion on the Internet allows us to see:
1. Traditional cultural topics take on new vitality in the new media era
2. Chinese characters as cultural codes require innovative interpretation
3. The "王字 next" of pearl has become a cultural symbol connecting ancient and modern times.

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