19-09-2026, 12:14 PM
At first, I thought that for a 15th-century European who doesn't understand mathematics, treating Chinese characters as pictures to depict, and then having a European clerk who has never seen Chinese characters transcribe them, I completely thought there would be an absolute answer, or that someone could truly guess it.
I think this is a question of logic and visual distortion deduction. I have been guessing that during the imitation process of his fake Chinese characters, the skeleton should still be there, but the coherence, direction, or thickness of the strokes might all be distorted.
My initial assumption was that the lower symbol had a very high probability of being "大" (big) or "天" (sky/heaven).
Visual features: This symbol has extremely obvious "left-falling stroke (撇)" and "right-falling stroke (捺)", and there is a horizontal line at the bottom (or a drag at the intersection of the two strokes).
Logical deduction: A European who completely doesn't understand stroke order and only knows how to "draw shapes", when seeing the character "大", is most likely to remember its posture of spreading its legs like a "人" (person). When he draws with a pen, he will draw the left and right falling strokes very exaggerated and thick (just like in the picture), and the middle horizontal line might be connected or drawn crookedly.
Alternatives: "天" (an extra horizontal line on top), "夫", "文". But considering the degree of distortion, "大" best fits this skeleton.
I thought the upper symbol might be "字" (character) or "安" (peace).
Visual features: Its top has a curved "cover" (similar to the "宀" radical), and below there are distorted zigzag lines and a long thin tail.
Logical deduction: The "宀" radical, for a European who relies only on visual memory, is just an arched roof shape. The lower part is extremely distorted, turning into snake-like or curled strokes.
Alternatives: If it's a book title or a person's name, it might contain "子" (like "字"), or "女" (like "安"). It could also be "玄" (a Taoist concept) or "宇". Combined with the "Chinese theory" studied by Stolfi, if it involves ancient classics, this symbol might also be a distorted part of "经" (classic) or "书" (book).
But suddenly I thought maybe it was "令" (order). The structural shape of the character "令" is simply tailor-made for this kind of "European visual distortion":
1. Top: Above is a "人" shaped head (亼), which in the eyes of Europeans looks like an "arched roof".
2. Bottom: Below there is a dot, plus a curved hook similar to "卩".
3. Visual logic: A Westerner who doesn't understand stroke order, when seeing "令", will draw it as a shape with a "pointed top and a curved little tail hanging below". This perfectly corresponds to the "top with an arc similar to 宀, and lower part with crossed and distorted strokes" you saw at first. ("今" is also possible, but "令" has an extra dot, making it more like the complex structure above).
Unfortunately, I am not a genius. I completely ignored it. I saw the professor tell me that he copied two Chinese characters. I didn't pay much attention to it. Later, it said it might be a book title or a person's name, so I looked at these two symbols separately. But there are really too many Chinese characters, and too many of them look like this. So I could only temporarily give a few examples of characters similar to these two symbols. I actually forgot that they might form a word together!
In my opinion, I think it should be the visual distortion deduction method, which should break conventions and deduce the original text from the picture. But unfortunately, there are really too many Chinese characters. The lower symbol even has an identical-looking character named "兀".
I am simply an idiot. I actually missed the important information the professor told me, that it might be a book title or a person's name. I looked at them separately for a long time, but forgot to put them together. Is there any similar word?
God, I completely looked at them separately at first glance, until olololo shared the link with me. God, I am simply incredibly stupid. It could completely be the word "冬天" (winter). Ah, but unfortunately I always analyzed them separately, I didn't put them together, otherwise I definitely would have recognized it as "冬天" at first glance.
I simply admit defeat. I admit I am an idiot. I am a genuine Chinese person, yet I didn't recognize the word "冬天" that I should have roughly seen at first glance. God.
I think this is a question of logic and visual distortion deduction. I have been guessing that during the imitation process of his fake Chinese characters, the skeleton should still be there, but the coherence, direction, or thickness of the strokes might all be distorted.
My initial assumption was that the lower symbol had a very high probability of being "大" (big) or "天" (sky/heaven).
Visual features: This symbol has extremely obvious "left-falling stroke (撇)" and "right-falling stroke (捺)", and there is a horizontal line at the bottom (or a drag at the intersection of the two strokes).
Logical deduction: A European who completely doesn't understand stroke order and only knows how to "draw shapes", when seeing the character "大", is most likely to remember its posture of spreading its legs like a "人" (person). When he draws with a pen, he will draw the left and right falling strokes very exaggerated and thick (just like in the picture), and the middle horizontal line might be connected or drawn crookedly.
Alternatives: "天" (an extra horizontal line on top), "夫", "文". But considering the degree of distortion, "大" best fits this skeleton.
I thought the upper symbol might be "字" (character) or "安" (peace).
Visual features: Its top has a curved "cover" (similar to the "宀" radical), and below there are distorted zigzag lines and a long thin tail.
Logical deduction: The "宀" radical, for a European who relies only on visual memory, is just an arched roof shape. The lower part is extremely distorted, turning into snake-like or curled strokes.
Alternatives: If it's a book title or a person's name, it might contain "子" (like "字"), or "女" (like "安"). It could also be "玄" (a Taoist concept) or "宇". Combined with the "Chinese theory" studied by Stolfi, if it involves ancient classics, this symbol might also be a distorted part of "经" (classic) or "书" (book).
But suddenly I thought maybe it was "令" (order). The structural shape of the character "令" is simply tailor-made for this kind of "European visual distortion":
1. Top: Above is a "人" shaped head (亼), which in the eyes of Europeans looks like an "arched roof".
2. Bottom: Below there is a dot, plus a curved hook similar to "卩".
3. Visual logic: A Westerner who doesn't understand stroke order, when seeing "令", will draw it as a shape with a "pointed top and a curved little tail hanging below". This perfectly corresponds to the "top with an arc similar to 宀, and lower part with crossed and distorted strokes" you saw at first. ("今" is also possible, but "令" has an extra dot, making it more like the complex structure above).
Unfortunately, I am not a genius. I completely ignored it. I saw the professor tell me that he copied two Chinese characters. I didn't pay much attention to it. Later, it said it might be a book title or a person's name, so I looked at these two symbols separately. But there are really too many Chinese characters, and too many of them look like this. So I could only temporarily give a few examples of characters similar to these two symbols. I actually forgot that they might form a word together!
In my opinion, I think it should be the visual distortion deduction method, which should break conventions and deduce the original text from the picture. But unfortunately, there are really too many Chinese characters. The lower symbol even has an identical-looking character named "兀".
I am simply an idiot. I actually missed the important information the professor told me, that it might be a book title or a person's name. I looked at them separately for a long time, but forgot to put them together. Is there any similar word?
God, I completely looked at them separately at first glance, until olololo shared the link with me. God, I am simply incredibly stupid. It could completely be the word "冬天" (winter). Ah, but unfortunately I always analyzed them separately, I didn't put them together, otherwise I definitely would have recognized it as "冬天" at first glance.
I simply admit defeat. I admit I am an idiot. I am a genuine Chinese person, yet I didn't recognize the word "冬天" that I should have roughly seen at first glance. God.