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Ideogrammic compound (會意): 日 (“sun”) + 一 + 勿 The rays of the sun.
[ From chineseetymology.org: ]
Primitive pictograph 昜. From sun日 (rays) on a sun dial (一勿). Meaning bright.
My research of the etymology of 腸 motivated this question. I know that 一 means one, and that 勿 means 'not' or 'do not' (ie: negation).
「一」and「勿」do not compound to sundial.
「昜」was originally a compound of「日」and「丂」.「丂」originally depicted a handle of an axe, now written as「柯」. The compound is supposed to depict the rising of the sun.
As the handle was changed into the shape of「丂」, decorative marks were also added, leading on to the current shape.
In contrast,「勿」comes from「刀」, with surrounding marks depicting drops of blood, and was the original character of「刎」(to cut someone's throat).
勿 as in "not" is originally a logograph of a signaling flag. It is not the same logograph as the rays depicted in 昜 (which is 日 rì over 𠃓 yáng).
It is not uncommon for Chinese characters to have merged similar logographs into one single abstract unit, in the latter case 旦 over 勿.
Take for example 易 (yì), which is unrelated to 昜, although its modern components are 日 and 勿. It is derived from the logograph of a chameleon.
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/extraPhoto/661c-1383730155_photo.jpg
The ideograph on the right is 昜. Have a look of the 漢語多功能字庫:
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=昜
You may compare the changes from bronze script, bamboo/silk and others. In my opinion, the saying of "rays on a sun dial" is, well, beyond reasonable imagination :)
