Wanna learn how to write the most complex Chinese character?

[Randy W]

5/2 - People's Daily apparently deleted their video

 

On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesDaily/videos/1517914338260378/?permPage=1

People's Daily, China
8 hrs ·

http://www.biang.biang

Wanna learn how to write the most complex Chinese character?
“Biáng” is one of the most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage, though it cannot be found in modern dictionary. The character occurs in the written form of biángbiáng miàn, or flat hand pull noodles, a specialty in central #China’s #Shaanxi.

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

[dnoblett]

Breaking the character down into its radicals and painting it.

 

https://youtu.be/zkuwR_AcXJA

[MikeandRong]

Mama says it's a fairly common symbol/group of words. Can see on business windows, even pictures in people's home too. Roughly and generally means to her knowledge good luck, good fortune.

 

Said the noodle can mean good longevity, but it's just a bunch of little words all together.

 

Told me to go look our envelope pile to confirm it's general usage.

 

Red envelope pile that is.

 

Keep a shoebox full of them, never know when you'll suddenly need one.

 

I found a couple of them, at least I think I did.

[Randy W]

My guess is that you guys are looking at something else.



Wikipedia apparently uses a thumbnail of this graphic for the character - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biang_(%E7%AE%80%E4%BD%93).svg
from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biangbiang_noodles

Quote

Biángbiáng noodles (simplified Chinese: 面; traditional Chinese: 麵; pinyin: biángbiángmiàn), also known as 油泼扯面; 油潑扯麵; yóupō chěmiàn, are a type of noodle popular in China's Shaanxi province. The noodles, touted as one of the "ten strange wonders of Shaanxi" (陕西十大怪), are described as being like a belt, owing to their thickness and length.
The noodle is broad and hand-made. It was originally part of a poor man's meal in the countryside, but has recently become popular in fashionable restaurants due to the unique character used in its name.
Made up of 58 strokes in its traditional form (43 in simplified Chinese), the Chinese character for "biáng" is one of the most complex Chinese characters in contemporary usage,^%5B1%5D although the character is not found in modern dictionaries or even in the Kangxi dictionary.

 

 

 

This kind of lets it out of the bag that it consists of NINE actual characters (not radicals) re-arranged to fit into ONE.

 

Quote

The character is composed of 言 (speak; 7 strokes) in the middle flanked by 幺 (tiny; 2×3 strokes) on both sides. Below it, 馬 (horse; 10 strokes) is similarly flanked by 長 (grow; 2×8 strokes). This central block itself is surrounded by 月 (moon; 4 strokes) to the left, 心 (heart; 4 strokes) below, and刂 (knife; 2 strokes) to the right. These in turn are surrounded by a second layer of characters, namely 穴 (cave; 5 strokes) on the top and 辶 (walk; 4 strokes) curving around the left and bottom.

 

from Mental Floss -

What is the Most Complex Chinese Character?

Quote

The status of biáng as most complex requires a bit of qualification. The character is not found in dictionaries, and its origin appears to be whimsical: biáng is not a syllable in Standard Mandarin but an onomatopoeia for the sound of noodles slapping on the table as they are being made, or for the lip-smacking sound of people contentedly munching on them. There are different theories about how the character came to be, but the most plausible one is that the owner of a noodle shop made it up.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Biang, biang, biang✋🏻🍜.  That is… the sound of dough hitting a table and the inspiration for one of China’s famous noodles. 

Biang biang noodles, a staple of Xi’an in northwestern China, are made by slapping dough on a table and ripping it into pieces. Learn more about it at linkinbio🔗

from Goldthread on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/goldthread2/videos/1227242298053125/

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)