<p>大 is just a person standing, see the old forms of 大 <a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/17/zy/5927.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.zdic.net/z/17/zy/5927.htm</a></p>

<p>Old forms of 人 show a person with his back bent, maybe working in the fields or praying or bowing.</p>

<p>儿 shows 2 legs, draw them together and you have 人。</p>

<p>If you put a line on 2 legs, 儿 you get 丌， which is a pedestal or some kind of small table, not 'heaven'.</p>

<p>More interesting is what the ancients thought of when they wrote 天。</p>

<p>Perhaps they thought 'the one, 一 that is above and bigger than mortals 大' which neatly uses the senses of big and person in 1 character.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T03:04:36.050Z
Learning Chinese characters using associations is a very interesting method. It works well for simple Chinese characters. When a character consists of a large number of components are associations applicable? How could Chinese character 我 wǒ  be associated?
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T04:01:14.517Z
Learning Chinese characters is very hard, at least for me! I think 我 is only used for it's sound. What picture could you draw to represent I?? Didn't someone ask this just yesterday? 你， you, is 人+尔。 Often a component of a complex character is just used for its sound. However, I'm not an expert
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T05:27:52.910Z
It is better to understand complicated Chinese characters. I mean their structure, radical and components. Analysis of the Chinese character helps us to better understand and write Chinese character correctly. As for the Chinese character 我 wǒ 'I' I would offer this mode of decomposition: Decomposition of the Chinese character  我  wǒ  ‘I’ 

丿 piě slash, 
找 zhǎo look for, 
扌 shǒu hand, 
一 yī one, 
亅 jué hook, 
戈 gē spear, 
弋 yì shoot, 
一 yī one, 
丿 piě slash, 
丶 zhǔ dot. 

我  wǒ ‘I’   
丿找扌一亅戈弋一丿丶
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T02:32:16.167Z
2017-02-11T02:32:16.167Z
Pedroski
<p>I draw a picture before my lunch...
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ERJMy.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ERJMy.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-12T11:09:32.583Z
2017-04-12T11:09:32.583Z
sfy
<p><a href="http://www.zdic.net/z/17/sw/5929.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">『說文解字』says it's "一大"</a>, and gives an explanation:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>从一大。至高無上。是其大無有二也。故从一大。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That is, it means "highest", "biggest". You can interpret "一大" as "number 1 in terms of size".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-13T05:48:53.177Z
2017-03-13T05:48:53.177Z
congusbongus
<p>The newly released <a href="https://www.outlier-linguistics.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters</a> decomposes 天 into 一 and 大. The authors of the dictionary are very concerned about providing information based on serious scholarship, so I would trust it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T21:22:34.510Z
It's about time; I've been waiting for it for a while!
Brian Tung
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T02:40:06.480Z
The final goal of the Chinese characters decomposition is to help learners better memorise Chinese characters. For achieving that purpose it might be pretty useful to analyze Chinese characters from all points of view. I mean to see as many decomposition options in the character as possible. When a Chinese character better analyzed it will easily be remembered. See how many decomposition options are possible for 天: 1. 二 èr two, 人 rén man
2. 一 yī one, 大 dà big
3. 一 yī one, 大 dà big, 一 yī one, 人 rén man
4. 一 yī one, 一 yī one, 大 dà big, 一 yī one, 人 rén man
5. All options are correct
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T11:25:12.980Z
@NicolayShinkin If you are already convinced that all options are correct, then what was the point of posting this question? Decomposition may have other goals, by the way. One may, for example, want to decompose a character in order to understand how it was created. If that's the case, usually only one option is correct.
米好 '-'
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T12:25:24.340Z
Not all options are correct. Option 4 is false. Radical 二 èr 'two' is missing. When we analyze the Chinese character 天 tiān ‘sky’ we can't do without 二 èr 'two'. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me, friend! ;)
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T18:32:11.013Z
2017-02-10T18:32:11.013Z
米好 '-'
<ol>
<li><p>二人：<strong>夫</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UnkVQ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UnkVQ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p></li>
<li><p>一大：<strong>天</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/J1uBY.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/J1uBY.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p></li>
<li><p>一一人：wrong, since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">二</a> is not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">一一</a>, it is a radical itself, which is composed of 2 horizontal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">strokes</a> (横)</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JTI6c.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JTI6c.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p></li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T15:35:09.320Z
Chinese character 二 èr 'two' in its turn can also be decomposed into 一 yī, 一 yī, isn't it?
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T21:22:08.513Z
@NicolayShinkin: That's not exactly wrong, but I would say it's misleading.  They're just two strokes, thereby representing the number two.  The concept one doesn't combine with the concept one to make a new concept two.  Yes, it so happens that one plus one equals two, but I would call that arithmetic, not conceptual combination, not 會議.
Brian Tung
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T02:52:23.157Z
I suppose that it is very useful for training purpose to break down Chinese characters to as many decomposition options as possible. We can pretty often see that one Chinese character might be split in 3, 4 and even more options. And all of them are correct. Let us take Chinese character 田 tián ‘field’ . At least four decomposition options are possible here. Can you admit that? Let us analyze this character together.
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T03:48:24.283Z
[田](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_102) is also a radical itself composed of five strokes.
ARMAN 阿尔曼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T05:23:08.167Z
I suppose that complicated radicals can also be decomposed to a simplier radicals. What can you say about this mode of decomposition for the Chinese 田 tián ‘field’ : 口 kǒu ‘mouth’, 十 shí ‘ten’. It is just one of the possible options for decomposition.
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T15:41:13.070Z
田 is not 口十, nobody writes it as 口十  : [http://www.zhihuishan.com/data/gif/14149.gif](http://www.zhihuishan.com/data/gif/14149.gif)
ARMAN 阿尔曼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-11T15:58:25.353Z
@NicolayShinkin: It's better to accept one of the answers, that you think  best answers your main question, and ask new questions by opening new topics.
ARMAN 阿尔曼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-12T00:58:55.603Z
For the Chinese character learning purpose it might be quite comfortable to decompose the Chinese character 田 tián ‘field’ into : 口 kǒu ‘mouth’, 冂 jiōng ‘down box’, 一 yī ‘one’, 十 shí ‘ten’, 一 yī ‘one’, 丨 gǔn line ‘eight’. What do you think?
Nicolay Shinkin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-12T02:22:59.463Z
I do not agree. Based on my experience of learning Chinese, radicals did not help me to learn Chinese characters, they only helped me to learn [五笔 input](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_method). Basically anyone can learn Chinese characters without decomposing them into radicals.
ARMAN 阿尔曼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-14T02:11:15.790Z
Why did someone voted down my answer? Is my answer not correct?
ARMAN 阿尔曼
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-10T14:57:37.510Z
2017-02-11T03:37:47.707Z
2017-02-11T03:37:47.707Z
ARMAN 阿尔曼
<p>Decomposition of the Chinese Character 天 tiān ‘sky’ Poll</p>

<ol>
<li>二 èr, 人 rén </li>
<li>一 yī, 大 dà </li>
<li>一 yī, 大 dà, 一 yī, 人 rén </li>
</ol>

<simplified-characters>
Which decomposition option of the Chinese character 天 tiān ‘sky’ is correct?
# Which decomposition option of the Chinese character 天 tiān ‘sky’ is correct?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-10)

Decomposition of the Chinese Character 天 tiān ‘sky’ Poll

1. 二 èr, 人 rén
2. 一 yī, 大 dà
3. 一 yī, 大 dà, 一 yī, 人 rén

**Tags:** simplified-characters

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-02-11. Score: 1

大 is just a person standing, see the old forms of 大 <http://www.zdic.net/z/17/zy/5927.htm>

Old forms of 人 show a person with his back bent, maybe working in the fields or praying or bowing.

儿 shows 2 legs, draw them together and you have 人。

If you put a line on 2 legs, 儿 you get 丌， which is a pedestal or some kind of small table, not 'heaven'.

More interesting is what the ancients thought of when they wrote 天。

Perhaps they thought 'the one, 一 that is above and bigger than mortals 大' which neatly uses the senses of big and person in 1 character.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Learning Chinese characters using associations is a very interesting method. It works well for simple Chinese characters. When a character consists of a large number of components are associations applicable? How could Chinese character 我 wǒ  be associated?  
> **username_1**: Learning Chinese characters is very hard, at least for me! I think 我 is only used for it's sound. What picture could you draw to represent I?? Didn't someone ask this just yesterday? 你， you, is 人+尔。 Often a component of a complex character is just used for its sound. However, I'm not an expert  
> **username_0**: It is better to understand complicated Chinese characters. I mean their structure, radical and components. Analysis of the Chinese character helps us to better understand and write Chinese character correctly. As for the Chinese character 我 wǒ 'I' I would offer this mode of decomposition: Decomposition of the Chinese character  我  wǒ  ‘I’   丿 piě slash,  找 zhǎo look for,  扌 shǒu hand,  一 yī one,  亅 jué hook,  戈 gē spear,  弋 yì shoot,  一 yī one,  丿 piě slash,  丶 zhǔ dot.   我  wǒ ‘I’    丿找扌一亅戈弋一丿丶  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-04-12. Score: 0

I draw a picture before my lunch...
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ERJMy.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ERJMy.png)


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-03-13. Score: 0

[『說文解字』says it's "一大"](http://www.zdic.net/z/17/sw/5929.htm), and gives an explanation:

> 从一大。至高無上。是其大無有二也。故从一大。

That is, it means "highest", "biggest". You can interpret "一大" as "number 1 in terms of size".


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-02-10. Score: 0

The newly released [Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters](https://www.outlier-linguistics.com/) decomposes 天 into 一 and 大. The authors of the dictionary are very concerned about providing information based on serious scholarship, so I would trust it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: It's about time; I've been waiting for it for a while!  
> **username_0**: The final goal of the Chinese characters decomposition is to help learners better memorise Chinese characters. For achieving that purpose it might be pretty useful to analyze Chinese characters from all points of view. I mean to see as many decomposition options in the character as possible. When a Chinese character better analyzed it will easily be remembered. See how many decomposition options are possible for 天: 1. 二 èr two, 人 rén man 2. 一 yī one, 大 dà big 3. 一 yī one, 大 dà big, 一 yī one, 人 rén man 4. 一 yī one, 一 yī one, 大 dà big, 一 yī one, 人 rén man 5. All options are correct  
> **username_4**: @NicolayShinkin If you are already convinced that all options are correct, then what was the point of posting this question? Decomposition may have other goals, by the way. One may, for example, want to decompose a character in order to understand how it was created. If that's the case, usually only one option is correct.  
> **username_0**: Not all options are correct. Option 4 is false. Radical 二 èr 'two' is missing. When we analyze the Chinese character 天 tiān ‘sky’ we can't do without 二 èr 'two'. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me, friend! ;)  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2017-02-10. Score: 0

1. 二人：**夫**

   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/UnkVQ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/UnkVQ.jpg)
2. 一大：**天**

   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/J1uBY.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/J1uBY.jpg)
3. 一一人：wrong, since [二](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_7) is not [一一](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_1), it is a radical itself, which is composed of 2 horizontal [strokes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)) (横)

   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/JTI6c.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/JTI6c.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Chinese character 二 èr 'two' in its turn can also be decomposed into 一 yī, 一 yī, isn't it?  
> **username_5**: @NicolayShinkin: That's not exactly wrong, but I would say it's misleading.  They're just two strokes, thereby representing the number two.  The concept one doesn't combine with the concept one to make a new concept two.  Yes, it so happens that one plus one equals two, but I would call that arithmetic, not conceptual combination, not 會議.  
> **username_0**: I suppose that it is very useful for training purpose to break down Chinese characters to as many decomposition options as possible. We can pretty often see that one Chinese character might be split in 3, 4 and even more options. And all of them are correct. Let us take Chinese character 田 tián ‘field’ . At least four decomposition options are possible here. Can you admit that? Let us analyze this character together.  
> **username_6**: [田](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_102) is also a radical itself composed of five strokes.  
> **username_0**: I suppose that complicated radicals can also be decomposed to a simplier radicals. What can you say about this mode of decomposition for the Chinese 田 tián ‘field’ : 口 kǒu ‘mouth’, 十 shí ‘ten’. It is just one of the possible options for decomposition.  
> **username_6**: 田 is not 口十, nobody writes it as 口十  : [http://www.zhihuishan.com/data/gif/14149.gif](http://www.zhihuishan.com/data/gif/14149.gif)  
> **username_6**: @NicolayShinkin: It's better to accept one of the answers, that you think  best answers your main question, and ask new questions by opening new topics.  
> **username_0**: For the Chinese character learning purpose it might be quite comfortable to decompose the Chinese character 田 tián ‘field’ into : 口 kǒu ‘mouth’, 冂 jiōng ‘down box’, 一 yī ‘one’, 十 shí ‘ten’, 一 yī ‘one’, 丨 gǔn line ‘eight’. What do you think?  
> **username_6**: I do not agree. Based on my experience of learning Chinese, radicals did not help me to learn Chinese characters, they only helped me to learn [五笔 input](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wubi_method). Basically anyone can learn Chinese characters without decomposing them into radicals.  
> **username_6**: Why did someone voted down my answer? Is my answer not correct?  

---

