年
nián · HSK 1
year
📅 Originally a person carrying ripened grain — one harvest = one year
Oracle bone form shows 禾 (grain) over 人 (person), depicting someone hauling the year's harvest. Since grain ripened once per cycle, 年 came to mean year.
年 — grain 禾 over person 人 (oracle bone)
Originally a pictograph of a person carrying a bundle of harvested grain on their back, representing the yearly grain harvest. Because harvests came once a year, the character shifted from meaning 'harvest' to meaning 'year.' The modern form 年 obscures the original 禾 (grain) + 人 (person) structure.