Chinlingo Chinese character: 安

Ancient Chinese people believed that it was risky to leave a girl alone outside and that it was "安" (ān) or safe to stay at home. Thus, the character "安" was made into a up-down structure. The upper "宀" represents a house, while the lower "女" represents a girl. In shape, "安" looks like a girl sitting on her knees in a house safely.

中国古人认为，女子独自在外是危险的。居家则"安"（ān）。因此，汉字"安"造为上下结构。上部的"宀"代表房屋，下部是 "女"，代表女子。从字形看，"安"是一个女子跪坐在屋子里，表示安全，不会遇见危险。

One of the extended meanings of "安" is "comfortable or cheerful", based on which many words have been derived. For example, "早安" (zǎo ān), "午安" (wǔ ān）and "晚安" (wǎn ān) are used as greetings in the morning, afternoon and evening respectively.

"安"的延伸意之一为"舒适的，快乐的"。因此，以"安"为词根，生成的合成词"早安"（zǎo ān）、"午安"（wǔ ān）、"晚安"（wǎn ān）可以用作问候。

Please visit Chinlingo for Chinese learning.