dong1

dong1 means 'winter'

• How is the Character pronounced?
• What are the calligraphy steps?

dong1 borrowed from the hieroglyph  which resembled a bundle of silk indicating the end of a silk reeling session. The two dots at the bottom which mean 'ice' and were added to signify 'years end' i.e. 'winter'.

dong1mian2 means 'hibernation' and literally translates as 'winter'-'sleep'.

mian2 is composed of . The first component is mu4 meaning 'eyes' (original hieroglyph ) and the second component is min meaning 'of one people'. It is surmised that the use of min was a replacement of a character that meant 'dark' instead. Therefore 'eyes in darkness' meant 'sleep'.

dong1gua1 means 'winter melon'.

gua1 is from the hieroglyph  and is used to denote 'melon'.