One character a day, easy to master Chinese characters. Let's take a look at the basic knowledge of "蚕".

 

蚕 cán
Explnantion: silkworm
Phrases: 蚕丝cán sī :silk

“蚕” (Can) used to be a pictographic character. In the oracle bone inscriptions, it looks like a big silkworm with its upper part as the head. Therefore the original meaning of this character is silkworm, an insect, the larva of a moth that can spin and cocoon. In the small seal script, a phonetic element was added above the original character while the lower part resembles the shape of two silkworms. No changes were observed in the regular script as compared with that in the small seal script. In the case of the simplified Chinese, it evolved into what it is now in order to make it easier to write. However, the character “虫” (Chong, worm) under still reflects the relationship between the character “蚕” and insects in general.

Originating from China, the silkworm is an insect that belongs to Saturniidae. Raised indoors, it is also called “the domestic silkworm”. Sericulture and making use of silk are important in human life. China has a long history of Sericulture. Characters such as “蚕” (Can, silkworm), “桑” (Sang, mulberry), “丝” (Si, silk) and “帛” (Bo, silk ) and inscriptions about silk production can be found in the oracle bone inscriptions of Shang Dynasty. It can be inferred that it was an important industry to raise the silkworm and plant the mulberries at that time. Besides, there are also some records about the Goddess of Silkworm and the production of silk. At that time, people used to offer sacrifices such as cattle, sheep and other generous gifts to the God of Silkworm so that they could have a good harvest. Jade silkworms of Shang Dynasty were unearthed in the Anyang Tomb of Henan Province and Subutun of Shandong Province. Silkworms were found to serve as decorative design in the bronze ware of Shang Dynasty. All these demonstrate that the silkworm was fairly important to ancient Chinese.

Sentences

Zhè pī gāodàng cánsībùyóuyú yìncuò le huāxíng zhǐnéng jiàngděng chūshòu le.
这批高档蚕丝布由于印错了花形只能降等出售了。
Because these high-grade silks were printed with the wrong design, they have to be sold as a substandard products.