The 'Chinese' Theory: For and Against

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Stolfhi, you said that the flourishes at the ends of the two quirks on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. are meant to parody the movement of the hand when writing ideograms. But that’s not entirely convincing. The lower arrow [in an ornate initial] shows exactly the same curl. The upper arrow generally resembles this curl, but it is more detailed.

Sure, the resemblance to the "serifs" of brush strokes could be merely accidental.  That glyph could also be a plow, a Fountain of Youth, a "K" for "König" rotated 90 degrees, two scimitars rising over a city wall...

... but the Chinese Origin theory happens to provide an explanation for all three ...

All the best, --stolfi