I figure I need to tell the story of at least one character a day. The story may not be very long, but it is better than going too many days without telling a story.
(长)長 has two basic pronunciations and two basic meanings.
(长度)長度chángdù means length.
(长大) 長大 zhǎng dà means to grow up
So, what kind of a pictograph can express these two meanings.
Hair can be long, and fingernails can ge long.
Hair can grow, and fingernails can grow.
If we look at some ancient characters.
我想我最好每一天讲一个小故事。这样的故事可能不是很长，但是总比很多天都不更新要好。
『(长)長』有两种基本发音和两种基本含义。比如说：
(长度)長度chángdù
(长大) 長大 zhǎng dà
那么，怎样的一个象形字形可以同时表达出这两个含义呢？
头发可能很长，指甲也可能很长。
头发会一直长，指甲也会一直长。
如果我们看它的古代字形。
is a man with long hair and long fingernails.
is another man with long hair and long fingernail.
is an old man with long hair and a cane.
（甲骨文）
这是一个人有着长长的头发和指甲的样子。
（甲骨文）
这是另一个有着长长头发和指甲的人。
（甲骨文）
这是一个长者有着长长的头发，拄着手杖。
is the li script form. You can see the top part is long hair and the left bottom comes from the hands or cane and the right bottom part comes from the body.
is the traditional character, but we can see how the hair and arms and person become the modern traditional character.
is the simplified character. The hair at the top just becomes one line
The seal character looks like this.That does not look much like the traditional character.
Always ask yourself if the teacher is correct.
Think it through and try to convince yourself if the teacher is right or not.
First, try to see the pictograph of the man with the long hair and long fingernails.
Second, try to understand each step and how it evolved.
这是长字的隶书，你可以看到上面的部分表示长长的头发，左下部分来自手或是手杖，而右下部分来自于身体。
这是它的繁体字，我们可以看到它的头发和手臂以及人的身体是如何演化成现代字形的。
这是现在我们看到的简化字，上面的头发最后只剩下了一条线。
它的篆体字是像这样 。
这可跟繁体字看上去差别太大了。
因此，你要常常问自己老师说得对不对。
仔细思考并且使自己确信老师的说法。
比如说在这里，你先要看这个有着长头发和长长指甲的象形字形。
接下来，你要试着理解它是如何一步步演化而来的。
Uncle Hanzi in Nanjing 2020
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