Amazing Chinese Characters (294) Epidemic - 疫

The shell bone script of character Epidemic is

The right part

which is a vertical bed (Post 151), bed facing right, in the character above bed facing left. A person (Post 37) in the middle is lying on bed (vertical drawing). The lower left is a hand holding a stick.

The explanations could be
1, the person who is infected is lying on bed, some one standing near the bed hold a stick to force the patient staying on bed in order to avoid infecting others
2, the person who stands near the bed is taking care of the patient.

3, the person who is treating the patient with Chinese Gua Sha (刮痧）therapy which using a smooth stick or stone to scape the body until the skin turns to reddish, which is still a popular therapy used in Chinese Traditional Medicine.  

The 3rd one is my explanation.

The big seal script of the character is

The bed is on the left right now, the lower right is the hand, the 厂 on the top could be headboard, the part on the hand could be the patient, just too small.  I just guessed.

The small seal script of the character is

similar to the big seal script on the left bed and lower right hand, the top horizontal line could be the headboard, under which is the patient.

The clerical script of the character is

The change is big. The 几 is the patient, and 又 is the hand.

The top and side part

is bed + headboard, which is a popular radical, called "Sickness Head", any character with this radical is related to sickness.

The song typeface of the character is

疫

Same as clerical script.

Its pinyin is Yi4.

Amazing Chinese Characters (293) Path - 径（徑）

The big seal script of character Path is

The left is the left half of character of Walk (Post 96)

The left half of Walk is called Radical Double People, but in character, it is related to Walk. 

The right half of the character

is a shuttle of weaver, or silk thread, which is similar to the roads when we see them from far and high position.

The small seal script of character Path is

Similar to big seal script.

The clerical script of character Path is

The path on the right top is not smooth.

The traditional song typeface is

徑

very similar to its clerical script.

The simplified song typeface is

径

The right top becomes completely strange, nothing to do with path anymore.

Its Pinyin is Jing4.

Amazing Chinese Characters (292) Crystal - 晶

The shell bone script of character Crystal is

All Dictionary I have seen so far explain that there are 3 suns or stars because they are like the shell bone script of character Sun (Post 4),

Actually, they are not like the Sun.

I think that there are 3 crystals, probably gem crystals. The dot is in the middle is the reflective point on the crystal.

Which is not only better similarity, but more reasonable because 3 suns or stars are not like the crystals.

The big seal script of the character is

almost the same as the shell bone script

They are similar to the big seal script of Sun

But not the same.

The small seal script of the character is

They are like small seal script of Sun,

People at that time might have believed that they are Suns.

The clerical script of character Crystal is

Right now they are 3 Suns, but is away from the original meaning.

The song typeface of the character is

晶

Same as the clerical script.

Its Pinyin is Jing1.

Amazing Chinese Characters (291) Have - 有

The shell bone script of character Have is

which is same character Again - 又 (Post 102). It is a right hand, means that people's hand could hold something.

The bronze script of the character is

The right is the hand holding a

 which is meat (Post 252). The hand holds a piece of meat: the person has a valuable thing.

The big seal script of the character is

similar to bronze script.

The small seal script of the character is

similar but the hand is separated from the meat.

The clerical script of the character is

The lines become straight, difficult to see the pictography any more.

The song typeface of the character Have is

有

Same as clerical script.

Its Pinyin is You3.

Amazing Chinese Characters (290) Bent - 曲

The shell bone script of character Bent is

which is an unfinished bamboo chair, the bamboo is bent to 90 degree.

To make a bamboo chair, people cut the bamboo half, put the skin of other side on fire to heat it up,

the bamboo skin becomes soft, and easily being bent before it is cool down.

The wood could be bent too, people make the same type of chairs from wood tree.

The bronze script of the character is

Similar to shell bone script.

The big seal script of the character Bent is

More similar to the shell bone script.

The small script of the character is

becomes symmetric.

The clerical script of the character is

the top and middle lines are connected. It is easier to right, but the pictography is gone, which is the major trend in the Chinese evolution: To make the writing easier but lose the pictography. 

The song typeface of the character is

曲

Same as clerical script.

Its Pinyin is Qu1.

The character 曲 also means song, and music now but the pronunciation become Qu3. I have not found a very good explanation why it could mean song and music.

Amazing Chinese Characters (289) Get-in - 入

The shell bone script of character Get-in is

Dictionary of Pictography explanation: it is like a cover of a utensil, means that people put something into a container, and cover up.

Some people believe that it is a head of arrow, which could be shot into a place. I agree with the dictionary, it should be a cover.

The big seal script of the character is

The handle is very long.

The small seal script of the character is

This is like a high cover.

The clerical script of the character is

The handle is not straight up, but becomes part of the right falling stroke, which is for people to write easier.

It is very similar to

Which is character People or Person (Post 37).

Don't be confused the two.

The song typeface of the character is

入

Same as the clerical script.

Its Pinyin is Ru4.

Amazing Chinese Characters (288) Old - 老

The shell bone script of character 老 is

which is an old man with a stick. The top is the hair, the bent back, and a hand. The bottom is the stick.

The big seal script of character Old is

The top is very similar to shell bone script, the stick on the bottom is following down.

The small seal script of the character Old is

Similar to big seal script.

The clerical script of the character Old is

Changed a lot, but we still can see that it has some similarity to old scripts.

The song typeface of the character is

老

Same as the clerical script.

Its Pinyin is Lao3.

Amazing Chinese Characters (287) Calculate - 算

The bronze script of character Calculate is

which is a schematic diagram, the bamboo sticks in different arrays to express different number.

The big seal script of the character is

The top is called "Bamboo head", means that the character is related to bamboo. The middle is the diagram of the bamboo sticks, and the bottom are two hands.

The small seal script of the character is

Similar to the big seal script.

The clerical script of the character is

Some similarity to the old scripts.

Which is similar to Chinese abacus.

which has been used about at least 1800 years.

It is interesting to point out that the character had a simplified song typeface:

祘

Which had been used for two decades, but it is abandoned about 1980s . The reason why it is abandoned may be that it has nothing to do with the old scripts. It is good to stop using the strange one.

Its Pinyin is Suan4.