寒

Compound ideogram:

宀 (갓머리) – a house or roof;

茻 (풀 초 네 개) – a cluster of grass, here showing mats or bedding;

人 (사람 인) – a person;

冫 (얼음 빙) – ice.

Bronze inscriptions (金文 jinwen):

Depicted a person inside a house, surrounded by grass bedding, symbolizing shelter from the cold.

Some bronze forms also show feet emphasized under the person, with 二 drawn beneath them to indicate ice underfoot, reinforcing the “cold ground” idea.

Seal script (小篆):

The 二 element evolved into 冫 (ice radical).

The structure became 宀 + 茻 + 人 + 冫.

Clerical script (隸書 lìshū) onward:

The 茻 + 人 part blurred into a simpler form, resulting in today’s standard shape.

Can also imply “poor” or “bleak” metaphorically (e.g., 寒士 “poor scholar”).