Radical 13-1 木 Mù, wood

Radical 13-1 木 Mù, wood

 "There are trees that have sunk their roots so deep into the ground that not even the strongest wind can blow them over!"

The primitive form of the character 木 Mù "wood" depicts a tree with its roots sunk deep into the ground. Its canopy is growing upwards in contrast to the growth of the roots down into the earth. Later, the two branches slanting upwards were symbolised by a single horizontal line while the two inclined lines at the bottom symbolise the roots.

 The choice made in Chinese culture is important: faced with the decision over what to simplify, they apparently decided to “cut” the branches, the eye-catching canopy, but keep the roots, which represent “substance” or “reality”. This is clear in the modern character. 

The roots allow a plant to be reborn in spring, even if we cannot see them because they are below ground.

The character 木 Mù is used as a radical for all the names of trees and can be positioned to the left, above or below other characters in order to form compound characters like: 松Sōng “pine tree” 梅Méi or李 Lǐ “plum tree” 桃 Táo “peach tree” 梨 Lí “pear tree” .

 The proverb山高泉水清, 樹高根須深

Shāngāo quánshuǐ qīng, shùgāo gēnxū shēn

 means "The purest spring can be found high in the mountains, the roots of a great tree are deep in the ground."

However much talent and however many skills you have, you still need determination, effort and perseverance in order to reach a high level of excellence.

 In order to find the purest water you need to struggle up the mountain. The roots of a great tree do not grow deep into the ground in a single day.

 Even if, at the beginning, you have trouble learning something, with constant determination, effort and perseverance you can still achieve good results. By following this advice, if you are already competent, you can get even better. If you are not yet competent, you can still achieve your goal. https://kidshoubo.jimdo.com

©兒童手搏文創Kids Shou Bo Arte Cultura & Saggezza Cinese Elaborated by M°Dante Basili /M°Stefano Danesi  Translated by Neil Berry