Editing Tian (section)

==Characters==
[[File:天-seal.svg|thumb|right|Chinese [[Seal script]] for Tian {{lang|zh|天}} 'heaven']]
[[File:天-oracle.svg|thumb|right|Chinese [[Oracle script]] for Tian {{lang|zh|天}} 'heaven']]
The modern [[Chinese character]] {{linktext|lang=zh|天}} and early [[seal script]] both combine {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|dà}} {{linktext|lang=zh|大}} {{gloss|great; large}} and {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|yī}} {{linktext|lang=zh|一}} {{gloss|one}}, but some of the original characters in Shāng [[oracle bone script]] and Zhōu  [[bronzeware script]] anthropomorphically portray a large head on a great person. The ancient oracle and bronze [[ideograms]] for {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|dà}} {{lang|zh|大}} depict a [[stick figure]] person with arms stretched out denoting "great; large". The oracle and bronze characters for Tian {{lang|zh|天}} emphasize the cranium of this 'great (person)', either with a square or round head, or head marked with one or two lines. Schuessler notes the bronze graphs for Tian, showing a person with a round head, resemble those for {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|dīng}} {{linktext|lang=zh|丁}} "4th [[Celestial stem]]", and suggests "The anthropomorphic graph may or may not indicate that the original meaning was 'deity', rather than 'sky'."<ref name="harvp|Schuessler|2007|p=495">{{harvp|Schuessler|2007|p=495}}</ref>

Two [[variant Chinese character]]s for {{lang|zh|天}} are {{linktext|lang=zh|二人}} (written with {{linktext|lang=zh|二}} {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|èr}} 'two' and {{linktext|lang=zh|人}} {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|rén}} 'human') and the [[Daoist]] coinage {{linktext|lang=zh|靝}}{{sfn|Carrasco|Warmind|Hawley|Reynolds|1999|p=1068}} (with {{linktext|lang=zh|青}} {{Transliteration|zh|pinyin|qīng}} 'blue' and {{linktext|lang=zh|氣}} '[[qi]]', cf. 'blue sky').