Thin (pronounced shà u) is a first-class word (commonly used word) in the General Specification for Chinese Characters. This word first appeared in the small seal script of Shuowen. It is said in Shuowen that "being thin is also good." It can be seen that the original meaning of this word means that the body has less meat and less fat. Later, it extended the meaning of smallness, barrenness, poverty, thinness and loss.
Etymological evolution:
The word "thin" first appeared in the small seal script of Shuowen (Figure 1). The word "thin" is a pictophonetic character. Shuowen said, "Thin and clumsy." From the sound, it's snoring. The phonetic symbol of "thin" was originally "bo", which evolved from bo, fire and re-evolution, and later became "bo" for the convenience of writing. The word "thin" is a semi-closed structure. It consists of "Qi" and "Motion".
"Qi" stands for meaning, and the ancient Chinese characters in China are like the shape of a hospital bed, indicating that illness can make people thin. Read and pronounce "u". "Bo" refers to the elderly, most of whom are thin. So the whole word means a sick body like a thin old man. This has the opposite meaning to fat.