How to Write Horse in Chinese

This week many families in my school’s community will be reveling in the festivities of Chinese New Year. Red envelopes containing cash will be given to children, salty pork will be consumed in celebration, and cries of, “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” (Happy New Year) will pepper the air.

The last time it was Year of the Horse (twelve years ago) a few of my middle school students taught me how to create the simplified Chinese character for horse. I forgot how to write horse in Chinese, but I still remember a beautiful black painting on a red square of paper–an image of a horse sailing over a fence.  The student artist based the image on a picture of my horse DC. If I hadn’t moved so many times, I would probably still have that paper. Darn.

Nevertheless, I wanted to recapture my lost skill of writing horse in Chinese, so during Garden Club last Thursday I asked my former 7th grader (now 8th grader) Zoe if she would teach me. Zoe was more than happy to oblige and came to school the next day with black paint and calligraphy brushes, warning me, “This is really messy.”

Zoe was on her way to Chinese school as our school day had ended, so we opted for the cleaner, quicker of option of whiteboard and dry erase marker. Here are the twelve animals that each represent a year in the lunar calendar. Zoe practiced them on my whiteboard since she was about to take a test.

All the animals representing the lunar new year! Zoe’s handiwork.

Notice that we’re about to end the Year of the Snake, entering the Year of the Horse, and 2015 will be the Year of the Sheep/Goat. Zoe told me “ma” (horse–there’s supposed to be a small accent mark akin to a shallow u hovering above the a) is something a child would probably learn how to write in first grade. If a first grader can do it, so you can you!

And if you’re curious how to pronounce “ma” (it’s not quite like the “ma” we use as the shortened version of “mama,”) click here: http://www.hantrainerpro.com/dictionary/chinese-english/translation-ma_horse.htm

Step 1: Draw a horizontal line from left to right.

Step 2: Create a frame: three lines with a “hook.” Drag the line down, then to the right, make a soft curve and draw down, with a hook toward the inside.

 Does it look like a horse yet?

Step 3: Draw two more horizontal lines.

Step 4: Draw one vertical line from top to bottom intersecting the two parallel lines from Step 3.

Step 5: Finish with 4 small dashes in the area above the hook and below the half square.

Now do you see it? I’ll give you a hint:

Think of a horse on the bit, its head vertical to the ground (wearing a bridle).

And think of how a horse picks up its front legs when jumping a fence.

The four vertical dashes–is it possible they represent four hooves?

Summary: Here are all the steps in review.

Try it! You can now celebrate the lunar new year with a new skill: writing horse in Chinese!

By the way, some scholars credit the Chinese with inventing the stirrup. That’s something to celebrate along with the Year of the Horse!

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