呂Write it with a brush

Origin of the character

For the character 呂 there are two main theories: that it depicts the segments of the human backbone, and that it depicts a flute. In the oracle-bone and bronze scripts it appears as two 口-like shapes joined vertically, suggesting the vertebrae of the spine. In later ages it came to be used chiefly for surnames and place-names, or to denote musical pitch, and its original pictographic meaning gradually faded. By the small-seal script it had settled into a form nearly identical to that of today.

How it is built

口 + 口 = 呂 (two 口 shapes joined vertically)

呂 looks like two 口 (mouth) shapes joined one above the other, but the leading view holds that it depicts the segments of the human spine or the form of a wind instrument such as a flute. For example, 侶 (companion), which belongs to the 呂 group, adds 人 (person) to 呂 to mean 'companion' or 'partner,' borrowing the sound and moving away from the original sense of the spine. Another example is 鋁 (aluminum), which adds the metal radical 金 to 呂 to denote aluminum.

In its line

The pitch pipes tune yin and yang.

Line 8 of 250 in the Thousand Character Classic.

Words with this character

• 渭水釣魚위수조어

  Literally, "fishing at the Wei River." It figuratively describes a wise person biding his time and seizing his moment. It derives from the story that before King Wen of Zhou met Lü Shang (Jiang Taigong), Lü fished at the Wei River, awaiting his hour.

• 非熊之兆비웅지조

  Literally, "an omen neither bear nor tiger"—an auspicious sign. It refers to the tale in which King Wen, upon meeting Jiang Taigong (Lü Shang), regarded him as a man bearing the auspicious aura not of a tiger but of a bear. It signifies that Lü Shang was an extraordinary figure.

After writing

As a surname, 呂 symbolizes lineage and familial bonds. In Confucianism, ancestry and ancestor veneration are important values, and to carry on the traditions of the Yeo (呂) clan is regarded as the very practice of filial piety and propriety. As the Analects says, "the noble person does not forget the virtue of his ancestors," a surname becomes the medium that connects an individual's identity with the history of the family.Confucianism

As you drew each stroke slowly, did a moment from today come to mind?