Posted 2017/4/13
It is a pictographic character. The word looks similar in inscriptions on bronze wares, small seal script and oracle bone inscriptions, all being in the shape of bamboo slips bound together with threads. In ancient China, before paper was invented, bamboos were used to make bamboo slips, which were bound together into “ce”. So the original meaning of the word “册” is “bamboo slips”. The later generations then have generally referred “ce” to all paper books that have been bound together, such as “mingce” (name list), “huace” (album of paintings), “jiniance” (souvenir album), “ceshu” (historical records/books) and so on. From the modern version of “册”, the primitive form of the character can be vaguely seen
