​The original pictograph for woman depictedher in a bowing position.Apparently,for ease in writing,man reduced this to a human form-a woman kneeling down.

“女”字就像女子跪坐的形象。女子跪坐在地上，双手放在胸前，是一个很合乎礼节的姿势，显得女性娴静美好，也体现了古代男主外，女主内的分工。

Men Plough And Women Weave

The feature of farm cultivation is men do farm work and women do housework，it was also the most common division of labour in ancient families.In fairy tales, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl divide themselves in this way too.(In a Chinese legend who, once a happy couple, become stars separated by the Milky Way. They can meet only once in a year when magpies fly together to form a bridge over the Milky Way.)

男耕女织，就是男的种田，女的织布，全家分工劳动，这是农耕文化的显著特征，也是古代家庭最常见的分工方式。神话故事里的牛郎和织女也是这样分工的。

    汉代谚语有云：“一夫不耕或受之饥，一妇不织或受之寒。”唐代田园诗人孟郊在《织妇词》中说：“夫是田中郎，妾是田中女。当年嫁得君，为君乘机杼。”田夫蚕妾，牛郎织女，日出而作，自给自足，是小农经济的经营方式。

“Analysis of Chinese Characters by bilingual”，is opened for the convenience of Chinese and foreign friends who are interested in Chinese characters. We’ll push a Chinese character every Monday，analyze its originand related culture. If there is any impropriety，welcome to correct us.

为方便对汉字感兴趣的中国朋友和外国朋友，我们新开设了《双语解字》栏目。每周一推送一个汉字的来历和相关文化，如果其中有不恰当的地方，欢迎中外朋友指正。

如果汉字，用心做的原创内容，通过一个字，学会一片字！帮助孩子抓住汉字规律，理解汉字文化，掌握思维方法，举一反三。