How Love Is Written
Love is written 爱 in simplified writing and 愛 in the traditional form, and pronounced ài. The two versions differ in an interesting way. The traditional character has a heart (心) in the middle, with a hand-like part (爪) at the top and a slow-walking component (夊) at the bottom. The simplified form keeps the top part, but replaces the heart and the foot with 友, the character for friend.
This difference has attracted a lot of comment. Some people regret the loss of the heart and find the simplified form less expressive. Others note that “friend” is a fine thing to put inside love. The change was made to reduce the stroke count and make writing easier, and not to alter the word’s meaning. Whichever form one prefers, the choice is a matter of reading habits and personal feeling, and it differs between regions.
The early history of the character is less certain than the popular retellings suggest. Older forms appear to have emphasized the heart and a sense of looking back or lingering over something, but scholars read the details differently. It is safer to treat the “heart plus action” picture as a memory aid than a fact.
More Than One Word for Love
English uses “love” for many things, and Chinese divides the ground into several words.
- 爱 (ài) is the general word for love and affection, whether for a spouse, a child, a country or a hobby. In older texts it often also meant to cherish or to be sparing with something, as in 爱惜 (àixī), “to treasure.”
- 情 (qíng) means feeling or sentiment, and it is common in compounds such as 感情 (gǎnqíng), emotional bond.
- 恋 (liàn) carries the sense of attachment or romantic yearning, as in 恋爱 (liàn’ài), the word for being in a romantic relationship.
- 喜欢 (xǐhuan) means to like, and it is the usual word people use to express a milder fondness.
- 疼 (téng) literally means ache, and it is used in some regions for doting on a child or a loved one.
Knowing these differences helps a reader see why a single translation of “love” rarely fits.
Love in Poetry
Love is a central subject of classical poetry. The earliest anthology, the Book of Songs, opens with a poem about a young man longing for a woman as a pair of waterbirds call to each other by a river. Later poets wrote about separation, longing and faithfulness in a range of forms.
Two famous lines make good examples. In a long Tang dynasty poem by Bai Juyi about an emperor and his consort, the lovers wish to be “birds that fly wing to wing in the sky, and branches that grow together on earth.” In a poem by Li Shangyin, a speaker says that although there are no wings like those of the phoenix to fly to the beloved, the hearts still share an understanding “like a single point of light.” These lines are often quoted at weddings and in cards.
Other poems turn on separation, with the moon as a shared symbol that connects distant people. A Song dynasty poem by Su Shi, written for the Mid-Autumn Festival while he was apart from his brother, wishes that both may live long and share the beauty of the moon from afar. It is about family love, and it shows that love in Chinese poetry is not limited to romance.
Love in Stories and Festivals
Folk stories also carry the theme. The tale of the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd, kept in the Qixi Festival, tells of two lovers separated by the Milky Way who meet once a year. Qixi is sometimes called a Chinese equivalent of a day for lovers, though it has its own traditions and its own older associations with needlework and wishes.
The mandarin duck, which tends to be seen in pairs, is another symbol for devoted couples and often appears on wedding gifts. For more on that setting, see the discussion of wedding customs.
Love in Everyday Speech
Everyday use of the word is more varied than a romantic stereotype would suggest. Many families express affection through care and action rather than by saying “I love you” aloud. A parent may ask whether a child has eaten, add food to a bowl or call to remind someone to dress warmly. These gestures are widely understood as signs of love, though families and generations differ. Younger people, particularly in cities, often use direct expressions of affection more freely than their grandparents did.
The character also appears in compounds for things people care about: 爱心 (àixīn), a caring heart; 爱国 (àiguó), love of country; and 爱好 (àihào), a hobby, which literally means something one loves to do.
Love as a Moral Idea
Philosophers gave love a larger frame. Confucian thought holds that care begins in the family and reaches outward, with the strongest ties to those closest at hand. The Mohist school argued instead for impartial care, saying that people should be concerned for everyone equally. The debate between the two views was an important one in early Chinese thought.
The character itself, then, holds a wide range, from a mother’s care to a poet’s longing to a civic ideal. Its shape, whether with a heart or a friend inside, is an invitation to think about how many forms love takes.