眼 from HSK Level 2 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 眼 (yǎn) for "eye" is a pictograph that depicts a person looking straight ahead. The earliest known form of the character, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE), shows a simple outline of an eye with a pupil. Over time, the character became more stylized, and the pupil was replaced by a dot.The character 眼 is composed of two parts: the radical 目 (mù), which means "eye", and the phonetic component 艮 (gěn), which has no meaning on its own but is used to indicate the pronunciation of the character. The radical 目 is also used in other characters related to the eye, such as 看 (kàn, "to look"), 见 (jiàn, "to see"), and 睛 (jīng, "pupil").The character 眼 has a rich history and has been used in Chinese literature and poetry for centuries. It is often used to express emotions, such as joy, sadness, anger, and surprise. For example, the phrase 喜上眉梢 (xǐ shàng méi shāo, "joy on the eyebrows") describes someone who is very happy, while the phrase 怒目而视 (nù mù ér shì, "to stare angrily") describes someone who is very angry.The character 眼 is also used in many idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 眼不见心不烦 (yǎn bù jiàn xīn bù fán, "out of sight, out of mind") means that if you don't see something, you won't be bothered by it. The proverb 一双眼睛看世界 (yī shuāng yǎn jìng kàn shì jiè, "one pair of eyes to see the world") means that we should all take the time to appreciate the beauty of the world around us.