In cursive script, the writing method of the word "Xia" has evolved step by step, and finally formed a recognized writing method. In fact, the simplest way to write the word "Xia" is in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which consists of two horizontal lines, one above and the other below, indicating that it is an ideographic Chinese character, as shown below:
The word "Xia" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions
From the word "Xia" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, we can see that the so-called simplification of Chinese characters is the trend of historical development, which is not true. Many words are more complicated than those written by Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jin Wen.
In the period of Xiao Zhuan, the word "Xia" was indeed more complicated than before, with an extra vertical, which should be used to indicate the direction. As shown in the figure below:
On the basis of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's two horizontal lines, Li Si, the prime minister of Qin Dynasty, added a vertical line to indicate the direction. Later, this kind of writing continued until official script, regular script and running script were all written in this way, which consisted of three strokes: horizontal, vertical and dot.
It is natural that the cursive word "Xia" is written in three points, which is the same as the word "Shang". Is what cursive script should look like. But these three points are completely different in starting, carrying and receiving the pen, and the stroke direction is the same. Although it's three points, it's different in writing and style, interesting and wonderful.