丹

Also connotes “sincerity, devotion” (정성스러움).

Pictograph:

In oracle bone script (甲骨文 jiǎgǔwén), 丹 depicted a ladder-shaped frame (like ᄑ) with a dot inside.

The ladder shape represented the entrance to a cinnabar mine; the dot indicated the cinnabar itself.

Through the seal script (篆書 zhuànshū) era, this form remained stable.

By the regular script (楷書 kǎishū) stage, the character’s shape evolved into its current form.

Extended usage: in traditional medicine and Taoist alchemy, 丹 refers to cinnabar (mercuric sulfide, a red mineral).