Chinese numbers:
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 百 千 万 亿
yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī bā jiǔ shí bǎi qiān wàn yì
1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000,000
Before we start, let’s imagine, in the very very early days, people didn’t write a certain language. They spoke. At first they only created to say the number 1, 一yī. They probably thought as long as they knew how to say number 1, they could count all the countable things. Just like the computer language, which only has 0 and 1, and can calculate everything just with these two numbers. So for a time, 1 was the biggest number in Chinese. It was an infinity number. However, people began to realize that they needed a number bigger than 1 to make things easier for them. So they created to say number 2, 二èr. They has been satisfied for a while until not. It was the same story to invent number 3, 4, all the way to 9, when people found the previous biggest number could not satisfy their need.
As you have seen from the story above that the Chinese numbers are invented one by one, not all at once. So it makes sense that number 1 existing first would affect how number 2 look like. Same stories with other numbers.
Now let’s really start the stories with the written numbers in Chinese.
一yī, 1, one.
Here is the evolution of the character 一 from Oracle bone script (considered to be the earliest form of recognizable written Chinese) to the standard Song typeface,has always remained to be the horizontal stroke.
‘一’ is a special indicative character. The abstract symbol 一 not only means the simplest origin but also the most abundant and chaotic universe at its original status.
Original meaning for 一 when being created:
the smallest original unit, the smallest positive integer.
As the ancient Chinese said, “道立于一，一生二，二生三，三生万物 dào lì yú yī ， yī shēng èr ， èr shēng sān ， sān shēng wàn wù”, meaning that the entire chaotic universe at its original status was called 一; Then the entire chaotic universe at its original status divided into 二/two parts, 天(tiān , sky) and 地(dì, earth). Between 天 and 地， here came 人(rén, person) as the第三部分( dì sān bù fen, third part) . Then天地人 derived into all the other things in the universe.
So,
一, stands for the entire chaotic universe at its original status;
二，the stroke above stands for 天，the lower stroke stands for 地;
三，the top and bottom strokes stand for 天地, the middle stoke stand for 人。
To be continued!
The chinese numbers remind me the roman numbers, at least the first ones.
一，二，三, ... = I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, XI, X.
Thank you for the explainations, it sounds very insteresting and I'm looking forward to reading the rest. Pethaps it would be better as an article.
As you can see from the invention of 一二三 that Chinese ancestors respect 天 heaven (where most Chinese Gods, mysterious powers, live and control everything on the earth) , 地 (which gives human beings place to live and grow food for us to survive), and 人 ( the most intelligent, honorable creature in the whole universe, who is third most honorable thing in the universe besides heaven and earth).
There are some similarities between the ancient western wisdom and Chinese
wisdom. Quick example, as English speakers honor the God most, they would say ‘oh, my God!’ in their daily life, Chinese would say ‘啊，天啊！a, tiān a ’ or ‘老天啊/苍天啊/老天爷啊！啊，我的天啊！lǎo tiān a / cāng tiān a / lǎo tiān yé a ！ a, wǒ de tiān a’ to express the same meaning. Another example, the Holy Bible says the heaven and earth was separated by the light when the God says let there be light. It is similar to Chinese ancestors’ idea that the universe divided into 天 and 地 two parts.
Welcome to comment and let me know how you think of Chinese wisdom on the numbers invention. I would like to hear your opinions.
Note: The origins of the characters may be not 100% true or explained accurately with my English writing ability and Chinese understanding for the ancient Chinese philosophers’ great work. Please just take my article for reference.
Fascinating story and very well written.
It would be great if you could include the pinyin with any Chinese characters, as I can't read the Chinese.
Thanks!
What about the other #1? 幺？
Here is the evolution of the character 三 from Oracle bone script to the standard Song typeface(picture can't show here; always three horizontal strokes.):
Let’s see how the meaning of 三 extended.
1. Original meaning: n. heaven, earth and person which derived into all the other things in the universe.
Only used in ancient Chinese articles. No examples will be listed here.
2.Extend meaning: number 3, the sum of one plus two.
E.g.:
一日三餐 three meals per day.
一日三餐要按时吃，对身体好。
yī rì sān cān yào àn shí chī ， duì shēn tǐ hǎo 。
Eat three meals per day on time, and it is good for your body.
3.Extend meaning: adj. Multiple, many.
E.g.:
三心二意sān xīn èr yì, half-minded; be of two minds.
开车时三心二意很危险。
kāi chē shí sān xīn èr yì hěn wēi xiǎn 。
It is dangerous with two minds when driving.
4.Extend meaning: adv. Agian and again; over and over; repeatly.
三思而后行 don’t do anything until you have thought about it carefully again and again.
买房是一个大开支，你要三思而后行。
mǎi fáng shì yí gè dà kāi zhī ， nǐ yào sān sī ér hòu xíng 。
Buying an apartment is a big expense. You should think about it carefully again and again before you do it.
