Hieroglyph gold meaning. Chinese characters: gold and metal. Gold in the modern world

The general meaning of the word is precious metal.

Meaning as an economic concept - a commodity universal equivalent, material for expressing value, full-fledged money, reserve means, object of hoarding.

It is difficult to trace the history of the word, since gold was known even before the advent of writing. However, it is known that in the Slavic languages ​​it had a common root with the word " yellow", and the original version of the word is written as "zolto". It is noteworthy that in European languages ​​the word gold also means yellow. The Latin (Etruscan) name for gold "aurum" (Aurum, ancient Ausum) is yellow and is related to Aurora (Aurura) - It is noteworthy that the ancient Persians had gold - zarania or zar

Some associate the origin of the word "gold" with the word "sun", the root of which is the ancient Indo-European root "Sol" - the Sun. But in general, there is not enough reliable information about the origin of the word. In European languages, the word "gold" is associated with the Greek sun god Helios. As you can see, the "solar" hypothesis meaningfully intersects with the "yellow hypothesis".

The modern economic role of gold is backup facility. World bank reserves of gold are estimated at 32 thousand tons (the weight of a cube with a side of 12 meters). The largest gold reserve was accumulated by the United States in 1949 - almost 22 thousand tons. Today, this figure for the US is almost 3 times less (8135 tons in 2004), which corresponds to the fiduciary nature of modern money. Another function of gold today is inflation indicator. Its price rises when inflation persists in the world economy, which is always fraught with instability.

The most important concepts related to gold:

• golden share- a share with a special voting right. Usually it is a government action. It allows you to veto the decisions of the meeting of shareholders and carry out the decisions that the government needs.
• golden bond- A bond backed by gold. As a rule, it is issued by gold mining companies. Interest payments on it are tied to the price of gold.
• golden handshake- the dismissal of one of the leaders of the company with the payment of significant monetary compensation to him in many cases in order to avoid a public scandal. In other cases, it is an early retirement benefit.
• Golden Certificate- a document certifying the ownership of gold deposited in a bank.
• golden boys("Golden Boys" or "Whiz Kids") are top US university graduates hired by financial institutions (banks and brokerages) to trade in the stock markets.
• Golden coins- gold coins produced in many countries. They are considered legal tender, but in practice they are bought and sold at a market price and in this regard they do not perform the functions of money. Hence the modern characterization of their role - no modern country circulates gold coins.

Chinese interpretation of the word "Gold"

Gold in Chinese is 金 (jin). The fact that this word consists of one hieroglyph speaks of its significance.

In Chinese, the word "gold" has a much broader meaning than in European ones. In addition to the basic meaning of "gold", this word also means " metal", "money", "jewelry".

The hieroglyph has an ancient etymology and was originally associated with metal (bronze). In the very first recorded version, the hieroglyph consisted of two parts - on the left, two plates, apparently bronze, which were used for blacksmithing, and on the right, an arrow at the top, an ax at the bottom. This is what you can do with bronze. At some point in the evolution of the hieroglyph, it was erroneously assumed that there was a gold nugget between them, since gold also required processing, and as a result the hieroglyph began to mean gold and metal at the same time. Gradually, the hieroglyph was ordered and eventually became symmetrical. It is curious that the element "earth" appeared in it, which brings it even closer to metals and gold in particular.

As a meaning "metal", the character is most often used as part of other characters. For example, it is present in all hieroglyphs of the chemical elements of metals.

The connection of gold with money and jewelry is common throughout the earth, but the Chinese language has preserved this interconnection especially strongly. This character is one of the basic ones in modern Chinese. Many financial and everyday words have it in their composition.. For example: "funds" = "resources" + "gold", or "cash" = "now" + "gold". The hieroglyph "money" consists of parts "gold" and two swords.

The hieroglyph "gold" has become an integral part of not only Chinese writing, but also Chinese culture.. This hieroglyph can always be heard in everyday speech and found in any text.

Gold - decoration and symbol of the sun god

The first native gold
most likely found in water

People first got acquainted with gold in its native form. A very rare, yellow, shiny and non-tarnishing "stone", which does not split upon impact, but only changes shape, initially acquired in primitive society a huge symbolic, almost divine value.

Due to the bright yellow glow in the sun - gold becomes symbol of the sun god. The property of gold not to tarnish with time (not to oxidize) made it symbol of eternal life.

Gold is the king of metals, a symbol of wealth and power

With the accumulation of gold and the emergence of social stratification in the tribes, its owners one way or another became leaders - gold becomes a symbol of power. And the symbols of power must be flaunted, and in the best possible way! - There was a need to process gold. It was here that people learned such properties of it as malleability and plasticity. Gold becomes a material for making ceremonial jewelry.
At the same time, gold began to be used in commodity exchange - gold also had a very high exchange value. As the exchange value of gold increased, so did the number of people eager to mine it.
Probably it was gold that brought mankind out of the Stone Age into the Bronze Age. Just as modern chemistry and the chemical industry were born from the attempts of alchemists in the Middle Ages to create the philosopher's stone, so in prehistoric times, the first copper was smelted from attempts to extract gold from stone. Gradually, people learned to extract a whole group of low-melting metals. Metals appeared in the everyday life of mankind and gold was put at the head of them, as a noble metal!
With the advent of statehood and the growth of the exchange value of gold, its divine symbolism fades into the background - gold becomes a symbol power, power and wealth.

Centuries passed, some fell apart and other ancient states were created in their place. To facilitate the exchange, gold began to be used in the form of pieces of metal identical in weight and shape - these were the first gold coins. In relation to coins, they began to correlate the value of everything that was offered for exchange - money appeared and gold became the main measure of their value.
People have learned to make various alloys of gold. There was a problem of fakes. Remember the task set to Archimedes by King Hieron about the gold content in the crown. As a result of solving this problem, the law of Archimedes was discovered. Gold is still a progress driver!
But this stimulation does not always lead to a straight path. In the era of late antiquity, the Alexandrian followers of the metaphysical philosophical school were seriously puzzled by the question: “If each substance and its properties are determined by a combination in a certain proportion of the primary elements that form it - fire, earth, water, air and ether (or quintessence, according to Ptolemy), then it is possible one substance can be transformed into another by changing the content of primary elements in it. They not only created a new philosophical movement - "hermeticism" (on behalf of one of the founders - Hermes Trismegistus) tried to put it into practice.
The primary task, which found support among those in power, was, of course, the transformation of base metals into gold. Ironically, it was in this era that Alexandria was famous for its wealth and gold reserves! After the Romans destroyed part of the storerooms of the Library of Alexandria, a legend arose that the task of turning base metals into gold was solved, but the solution itself was lost. The only thing that has been reliably preserved from this era is the designation of gold introduced by the Alexandrians: ☉ - the sign of the Sun, and that they considered fire to be the fundamental essence of gold, and attributed to it an interpenetrating relationship with the fiery signs of the zodiac in the first place - this, and then the signs Aries and Sagittarius . It is worth noting that already in those days, most Hermeticists believed mercury the most suitable metal for obtaining gold
And the legend about the possibility of turning base metals into gold turned out to be so tenacious that the Arabs, having conquered Egypt, revived the search for a method for such a transformation and created alchemy, enriching knowledge with new methods of purifying metals and liquids, as well as creating new legends and myths (philosopher's stone). But the record holders for the mystification of alchemy were the Europeans, to whom it came from the Arabs as a result of the Crusades, however, they received much more results in terms of obtaining practical knowledge (for example, they obtained “aqua regia” - a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids, in which even gold dissolves) It was from European alchemy that modern chemistry was born. Despite the misconceptions, the main merit of the alchemists is that they discovered many of the properties of gold as a chemical element.
The symbolic perception of gold by people also changed from era to era. With the advent of monotheistic religions, the spiritual symbolism of gold begins to revive. For Christians, gold symbolizes divine light, sun and christ(gifts of the Magi), nobility of soul, purity of spirit and faith.

Gold in the modern world

The modern perception of the properties of gold as a precious metal, a chemical element and a reserve means of payment began to take shape in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The discovery by our compatriot D.I. Mendeleev of the periodic law of chemical elements overthrew gold from the throne of the king of metals - now it began to occupy 79th place in the periodic table between platinum and mercury.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the governments of economically developed countries had learned to maintain the stable circulation of “paper money” (banknotes: banknotes, credit and treasury notes, etc.) - gold was no longer used for the mass production of banknotes. All mined gold was divided into two streams - reserve accumulations of state funds (gold was then still used for international payments) and for the needs of industry, mainly jewelry. This state of affairs has survived to this day, with the only difference being that now the gold flow for the needs of industry is many times greater than the flow for reserve accumulations. Gold, while still being the main metal used for making jewelry, has found wide application in electronics.
In 1947, the dream of alchemists of all times and peoples came true - it was artificial gold obtained from mercury, by irradiating it with slow neutrons in a nuclear reactor. But alas, dreams are shattered into reality - to clean such gold from accompanying radioactive contamination is many times more expensive than to mine gold in natural deposits!

No wonder they say: “New is a very well-forgotten old!”. Recently, another characteristic of a person associated with the date of birth has come into fashion - his zodiac sign. It would seem just a game ... But even recruitment agencies began to use this characteristic for the preliminary selection of candidates. The fact is that 60-70% of people born in the northern hemisphere, to a large extent, correspond to the indicators of the temperament of their sign.
The jewelry industry now provides a large selection of gold jewelry, both in terms of price and aesthetic qualities. When choosing a gift for a loved one, or choosing jewelry for themselves, many people involuntarily think about the compatibility of the jewelry and the zodiac sign of its future owner. So, I can reassure the adherents of Christianity - gold suits them all, regardless of the sign of the zodiac.
Especially for those who were born under the water signs of the zodiac (scorpio, virgo, fish) and strongly believe in their fatefulness, it is worth saying that it is better to supplement gold (if the gold is not of the highest standard, then you don’t have to worry - jewelers already taken care of). In general, in such cases, you need to follow the postulates of your own inner faith - if a person believes that the golden ring helps him, then it is so!
But back to the golden symbolism:
- What do you think, what symbolic gold jewelry is most common in the world?
- Right! Wedding rings.
The tradition of giving each other rings at the time of marriage, as symbols of fidelity, purity of feelings and eternity of love, is now distributed throughout the world.
Another example of modern associative symbolism associated with gold is the gilding of temples and works of art. - “Life is short, but art forever". The radiance of the gilding of the bell towers in the rays of the rising sun, visible for kilometers, involuntarily resembles divine Light.

Now it is already difficult to find a person who would not be a free or unwitting owner of gold. Even if you do not wear gold jewelry, you probably have a piece of gold with you ... in your mobile phone!

The word "Gold" - meanings, history of origin

The word "gold" can mean not only the precious metal, but also the symbols and properties associated with it.
For example, to emphasize the value of an employee, they say “Not an employee, but gold!”, Or, emphasizing exceptional luck: “Mother-in-law is just gold!”. In literature and poetry, quite often, allegorically, the visual perception of the precious metal is used: “Gold of the fields, turquoise of the meadows”.
But the adjective “golden” derived from the word “gold” began to have a much larger number of semantic shades. On the basis of the words “golden” and “gold”, a great many catchphrases and sayings have been created among the people: golden hands, golden words, golden wedding, golden autumn - you can’t list everything, therefore, from sayings, you should limit yourself to only one: “Word -, silence - gold".

The historical roots of the word “gold” go much deeper than the time when writing appeared. And now it is impossible to accurately establish the origins of the word.
Methods of etymological reconstruction lead to two Proto-Indo-European roots consonant with the Proto-Slavic “zolt”, the first of them means “yellow”, the second “shining”, “sunny” (Indo-Europeans are our ethnic great-ancestors). The official etymology is inclined to believe that in XI - XII, as a result of the phonetic transformation of the Proto-Slavic “gold” (gold), the word “gold” (full agreement) appeared in the East Slavic languages, and “gold” (disagreement) appeared in the South and West Slavic languages . Personally, I believe that in our particular case, the common Slavic word was “gold”. The fact is that even in the Russian language “gold” and “gold” were in an equivalent course until the beginning of the 19th century. Remember, in Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila": "... The Golden Chain... ... There Tsar Kashchei languishes over gold..." and at the same time the fairy tale "The Golden Cockerel"... It is due to the variety of semantic meanings and the frequency of use of the adjective “golden”, only the consonant “gold” remained in use. Despite the fact that the history of the word “gold” contains many moments that can give rise to heated discussions, its most important result: “ The word gold is native Russian!”

Work on the article "Gold is a symbol, metal, element. The word "Gold" - meanings, history." is still going on.

Sergey Ov(seosnews9)

Properties of gold as a metal and a chemical element.

Gold Au (from the Latin Aurum) is a heavy yellow metal, soft, malleable and ductile.
Under normal conditions, the density of gold is 19320 kg/m3;
- specific heat capacity 132.3 j/(kg K);
- specific thermal conductivity 311.48 W/(m K);
- electrical resistivity 2.25·10 -8 ohm·m;
- linear coefficient of thermal expansion 14.2·10 -6 K -1 .

The melting point of gold is 1064.43°C, the specific heat of melting is ≈ 67 kJ/kg.

The boiling point of gold is 2856 °C, the specific heat of vaporization is ~ 1800 kJ/kg.

As a chemical element, gold in most stable compounds exhibits an oxidation state of +3, less often +2, there are compounds with oxidation states of +5 (fluorides), +2 (complex salts) and even -1 (aurids). It is important to know that some gold compounds are toxic and have a cumulative effect (accumulate in the body).

The metal crystal lattice of gold, as a simple substance, is a face-centered cubic structure of densely packed spheres with a coordination number of 12, a = 4.704 Å. The atomic radius of gold is 1.44 Å, the ionic radius of Au + is ~1.37 Å; Au 3+ ~0.82 Å

Only one isotope of gold is stable in our universe 197 Au, number of protons p - 79, neutrons n - 118, nuclear spin 3/2 and nuclear parity +, configuration of the outer electron shell 5d 10 6s 1 .

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