The word "Kun" is a symbol of the earth and a divination in the Book of Changes. Its glyph consists of soil and Shen, in which soil represents the earth and Shen represents the extension in all directions.
The word "Kun" first appeared in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which originated from two parts, the earth and the god, and represented the god of the earth. Oracle Bone Inscriptions's middle-earth image is mostly written as "Li", while Shen's image is like lightning. Then there is the bronze inscription, which is engraved on the bronze. It follows the image of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, but sometimes it is written in the shape of a "cloud", which may have evolved from Kun Liu's broken hexagrams in the Book of Changes.
Later, after the Qin dynasty unified the characters, the characters used were seal script, which also inherited the images of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and inscriptions on bronze, but it was more regular and simplified. The word "Kun" in seal script is included in Shuo Wen Jie Zi, which has a detailed explanation.
Official script is a popular script in Han dynasty, which developed from seal script, but it is more convenient to write and read. The word "Kun" in official script is mostly written in the shape of "cloud", but sometimes it is inherited from seal script. The last regular script evolved from official script, which is the basis of modern Chinese characters. The word "Kun" in regular script restores the images of "earth" and "god", but it is more concise and beautiful.
The evolution of China characters;
The evolution of China's characters is great. First of all, it is the stage of sound, form, image, number and reason, which is the earliest origin stage of China's characters. From Jia Hu lettering to Oracle Bone Inscriptions, words mainly express meaning through sound, image, symbol, quantity and meaning. Then there is the bronze inscription stage, which is the development stage of China characters in the Bronze Age. From the late Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty, characters were mainly inscriptions carved on bronzes.
The seal script stage is the standardization stage of Chinese characters. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of Qin Dynasty, the characters were mainly seal script, which was divided into two types: big seal script and small seal script. In the official script stage, this is the popularization stage of China characters. From the early Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, the script was mainly official script, which evolved from Xiao Zhuan. The regular script stage is the mature stage of China characters. From the Three Kingdoms to the Tang Dynasty, the characters were mainly regular script, which evolved from official script.
The cursive script stage is the variant stage of China characters. From Wei and Jin Dynasties to Song Dynasty, there were mainly two kinds of characters: running script and cursive script. Running script is a font between regular script and cursive script, and cursive script is a concise font, both of which have the characteristics of continuity, fluency, freedom and agility.