雪 from HSK Level 2 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 雪 (xuě) for "snow" is a pictophonetic character, combining a phonetic component and a semantic component. The phonetic component is the character 雨 (yǔ) for "rain", which provides the pronunciation of 雪. The semantic component is the character 雨 (yǔ) for "ice", which indicates the meaning of 雪.The character 雪 first appeared in oracle bone script, the earliest form of Chinese writing. In oracle bone script, 雪 was depicted as a snowflake falling from the sky. Over time, the character evolved and simplified into its current form.The character 雪 has several extended meanings beyond its literal meaning of "snow". It can also be used to refer to anything white and fluffy, such as cotton or foam. It can also be used figuratively to describe something that is pure and unsullied, or something that is cold and heartless.The character 雪 is also used in many Chinese idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 雪上加霜 (xuě shàng jiā shuāng) means "to add insult to injury", while the proverb 瑞雪兆丰年 (ruì xuě zhào fēng nián) means "a good snowfall is a sign of a good harvest".The character 雪 is a beautiful and versatile character that has a rich history and many meanings. It is a character that is worth learning for any student of Chinese.