shàn
good
Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).
Evolution

Bronze script
Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
shàn
good, virtuous, charitable, kind; good (virtuous); benevolent; well-disposed; good at sth; to improve or perfect
Most common words with 善
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
to make better | ||
excellent | ||
benevolent | ||
benevolent | ||
good and honest |
Sources