西xī

西 (xī, "west") is one of the oldest characters in Chinese, originally depicting a bird nest — a roof-like shape with a bird inside — with the original meaning of "bird" or "nest." The directional meaning of "west" came later through phonetic borrowing, possibly because birds migrate westward or because the setting sun was associated with the west. The simplified form looks remarkably similar to its ancient oracle bone version, maintaining that distinctive roof-and-bird silhouette across three millennia.