017 Beautiful

Join ShaoLan and Sarah Butterfield today in learning how to praise others today.

Beauty: A peaceful sunrise. A flowerbed of tulips. A steaming plate of dim sum pork buns.

How do you call something beautiful in Chinese?

”好美“ (hǎo měi) means “so beautiful.” “好” ＝ good, or in this case “very.” “美” = beautiful.

The character 美 is composed of 羊 (sheep) and 大 (big). Big sheep?? Yup. Our ancient Asian ancestors sacrificed sheep to the gods; the bigger the sheep, the more generous, holy, and beautiful the sacrifice. A big sheep also symbolized wealth and abundance, as it would yield lots of wool.