<p>The main idea for the explanation in Baidu is:
&quot;我&quot; was originally invented to stand a kind of murderous artefacts. But with the time passing by, this kind of murderous artefacts was displaced or just disappeared. So the character &quot;我&quot; has no meaning in that time. It should have disappeared in the course of history. But something happened(For kidding, it might be a mistake), which lead &quot;我&quot; have some new meaning. The new usage of it has been passed to the modern.</p>
<p>In summary, you can understand that the acient &quot;我&quot; is absolutely different from the modern &quot;我&quot;. They have the same shapes by coincidence.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T09:36:24.523Z
2021-08-08T09:36:24.523Z
whx
<p>&quot;我&quot; (which means &quot;I&quot;) is believed to be a 假借字. 假借 literally means &quot;borrow&quot;. The term means that the morpheme borrowed the glyph of another morpheme, so the current meaning has nothing to do with the shape. (Some people translate 假借 as &quot;rebus&quot;, but rebus seems to be something different in English.)</p>
<p>&quot;我&quot; happened to have borrowed the glyph shape of a morpheme which means a kind of weapon. No need to use sensational words like &quot;bloody&quot; or &quot;murderous&quot;.</p>
<p>The shapes of &quot;我&quot; on oracle bones and bronze wares:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/TtOxc.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/TtOxc.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Unearthed artifacts which are believed to be the weapon &quot;我&quot;:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/WoSoL.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/WoSoL.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
<a href="http://www.huaxia.com/zhwh/wszs/2009/07/1501347.html" rel="noreferrer">source</a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/L9AB4.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/L9AB4.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
<a href="http://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1563462130866341" rel="noreferrer">source</a></p>
<p>Note that &quot;我&quot; borrowing the shape of a weapon is just a widely accepted hypothesis. No evidence is found. In all the literature &quot;我&quot; was used as &quot;I&quot; or &quot;we&quot;. We haven't found any instances where &quot;我&quot; is used to refer to the weapon. (It is possible that it was present in some ancient literature that has been lost in time. Maybe we can find more evidence one day.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T22:36:19.263Z
Thank you, a very clear explanation. For info: rebus: a puzzle or riddle consisting of words or phrases represented by pictures of objects whose names resemble in sound the words or phrases intended,
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T14:44:34.107Z
2021-08-08T14:44:34.107Z
Betty
<p>Is 我 really so grisly? A saw for cutting off heads?</p>
<p><a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%88%91/85?fr=aladdin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baidu</a>:</p>
<p>图（A）是甲骨文里的“我”字，像把有柄有钩的古代武器——大斧，斧口有一排锋利的锯齿。这是奴隶社会里一种用来行刑杀人和肢解牲口的凶器，叫作wǒ，古代也有人把这种锯斧叫作“锜”。</p>
<p>图（A）是甲骨文里的“我”字，<br />
Picture (A) is the character found in Oracle Script,<br />
像把有柄有钩的古代武器——大斧，<br />
(it) resembles an ancient weapon like a big hatchet, with a handle and a hook,<br />
斧口有一排锋利的锯齿。<br />
the hatchet blade had a row of serrations, like sharp saw teeth.<br />
这是奴隶社会里一种用来行刑杀人和肢解牲口的凶器，<br />
This murderous artefact was used in the ancient slave-owning societies to carry out the death sentence on people (ouch!) and also to dismember animals.<br />
叫作wǒ，<br />
(it was) called wǒ,<br />
古代也有人把这种锯斧叫作“锜”。<br />
in ancient times this weapon was also known as “锜” qí.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T00:17:09.023Z
It's most probably rebus (假借). Only the sound is relevant here, not the meaning.
L Parker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T01:11:52.300Z
At Chinese SE, we use [tag:glyph-origin] for questions to do with character origin. [tag:etymology] implies that you want to ask about the morpheme 我 (**/\*ŋˤajʔ/**), which has relations with 吾 (**/*ŋˤa/**), Modern Tibetan ང (**nga**), Modern Burmese ငါ (**nga**), etc, not the shape 我. Related meta post: https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1537/should-we-change-the-description-of-the-tag-etymology
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-08T01:49:54.160Z
de rebus quæ geruntur: you mean, the ancient Oracle character was actually not used as "I"? It was just a chopper to chop off your head??
Pedroski
<glyph-origin>
Is this really the bloody origin of 我？
# Is this really the bloody origin of 我？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-07)

Is 我 really so grisly? A saw for cutting off heads?

[Baidu](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%88%91/85?fr=aladdin):

图（A）是甲骨文里的“我”字，像把有柄有钩的古代武器——大斧，斧口有一排锋利的锯齿。这是奴隶社会里一种用来行刑杀人和肢解牲口的凶器，叫作wǒ，古代也有人把这种锯斧叫作“锜”。

图（A）是甲骨文里的“我”字，  
Picture (A) is the character found in Oracle Script,  
像把有柄有钩的古代武器——大斧，  
(it) resembles an ancient weapon like a big hatchet, with a handle and a hook,  
斧口有一排锋利的锯齿。  
the hatchet blade had a row of serrations, like sharp saw teeth.  
这是奴隶社会里一种用来行刑杀人和肢解牲口的凶器，  
This murderous artefact was used in the ancient slave-owning societies to carry out the death sentence on people (ouch!) and also to dismember animals.  
叫作wǒ，  
(it was) called wǒ,  
古代也有人把这种锯斧叫作“锜”。  
in ancient times this weapon was also known as “锜” qí.

**Tags:** glyph-origin
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's most probably rebus (假借). Only the sound is relevant here, not the meaning.  
> **username_2**: At Chinese SE, we use [tag:glyph-origin] for questions to do with character origin. [tag:etymology] implies that you want to ask about the morpheme 我 (**/\*ŋˤajʔ/**), which has relations with 吾 (**/*ŋˤa/**), Modern Tibetan ང (**nga**), Modern Burmese ငါ (**nga**), etc, not the shape 我. Related meta post: https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1537/should-we-change-the-description-of-the-tag-etymology  
> **username_0**: de rebus quæ geruntur: you mean, the ancient Oracle character was actually not used as "I"? It was just a chopper to chop off your head??  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-08-08. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

"我" (which means "I") is believed to be a 假借字. 假借 literally means "borrow". The term means that the morpheme borrowed the glyph of another morpheme, so the current meaning has nothing to do with the shape. (Some people translate 假借 as "rebus", but rebus seems to be something different in English.)

"我" happened to have borrowed the glyph shape of a morpheme which means a kind of weapon. No need to use sensational words like "bloody" or "murderous".

The shapes of "我" on oracle bones and bronze wares:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/TtOxc.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/TtOxc.png)

Unearthed artifacts which are believed to be the weapon "我":
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/WoSoL.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/WoSoL.png)
[source](http://www.huaxia.com/zhwh/wszs/2009/07/1501347.html)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/L9AB4.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/L9AB4.png)
[source](http://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1563462130866341)

Note that "我" borrowing the shape of a weapon is just a widely accepted hypothesis. No evidence is found. In all the literature "我" was used as "I" or "we". We haven't found any instances where "我" is used to refer to the weapon. (It is possible that it was present in some ancient literature that has been lost in time. Maybe we can find more evidence one day.)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you, a very clear explanation. For info: rebus: a puzzle or riddle consisting of words or phrases represented by pictures of objects whose names resemble in sound the words or phrases intended,  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-08. Score: -1

The main idea for the explanation in Baidu is:
"我" was originally invented to stand a kind of murderous artefacts. But with the time passing by, this kind of murderous artefacts was displaced or just disappeared. So the character "我" has no meaning in that time. It should have disappeared in the course of history. But something happened(For kidding, it might be a mistake), which lead "我" have some new meaning. The new usage of it has been passed to the modern.

In summary, you can understand that the acient "我" is absolutely different from the modern "我". They have the same shapes by coincidence.


---

