毛

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 毛 (máo) for "hair" or "fur" is a pictograph that depicts a tuft of hair. The earliest known form of the character, found in oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE), shows a simple representation of a few strands of hair. Over time, the character became more stylized, and the modern form was established by the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).The character 毛 is composed of two parts: the radical 彡 (sān), which represents hair or fur, and the phonetic component 矛 (máo), which represents a spear. The radical 彡 is also used in other characters related to hair, such as 发 (fà) for "hair" and 髭 (zī) for "beard". The phonetic component 矛 is used in other characters related to weapons, such as 刀 (dāo) for "knife" and 剑 (jiàn) for "sword".The character 毛 has a wide range of meanings, including "hair", "fur", "wool", and "feather". It can also be used figuratively to refer to something that is small or insignificant, such as a "hair's breadth" or a "drop in the ocean". In addition, the character 毛 is used in several Chinese idioms, such as 鸡毛蒜皮 (jī máo suàn pí) for "petty squabbles" and 一毛不拔 (yī máo bù bá) for "stingy".