一人得道，鸡犬升天
yī​rén​dé​dào, jī​quǎn​shēng​tiān

ascension

一 yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (9)

生之方或万旦曰巿丏

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

百千兹闩戛晉閂

Unknown (2)

昼晝

Distinguishing (1)

夫

Simplified (1)

丛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jitʔi[t] one

說文解字

《說文》：“一，惟初太始，道立於一，造分天地，化成萬物。弌，古文一。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

人 rén, ren person

Pictograph of the side view of a standing person.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (65)

以年从此内先及克死万企众坐负竟介监临亮鬼兄闪寒盾夹卧欠吊兑囚蜀虐羌敖戍奂艮臨臥負閃監弔疒兌兒冘皃夌㐱夾夃奐臽卬翏丏𠩺𡵂𦰋飤幾秊𥁕厃

Meaning (4 of 5 verified)

队亮允佘仝

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

认氽䧹

Simplified (1)

队

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

隳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinni[ŋ] (other) person

說文解字

《說文》：“人，天地之性最貴者也。此籀文，象臂脛之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.630
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

得 de, dé, děi obtain

Depicts a hand (寸) grabbing a shell (貝), used as currency in ancient China, to convey the meaning "get". Originally written as 㝵. The 彳 (movement) component was added later.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

貝
貝 Iconic component
bèi sea shell
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 貝 than it was in ancient scripts.
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嘚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttoktˤək obtain

說文解字

《說文》：“得，行有所得也。从彳，聲。，古文省彳。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

道 dào, dao path

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 首 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

首
首 Sound component
shǒu head
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

導

Meaning (1)

導

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawHlˤuʔ-s show the way
dawX[kə.l]ˤuʔ way

說文解字

所行道也。从辵从𩠐。一達謂之道。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鸡 jī chickens Simplified

Simplified from a variant form of the traditional character 雞.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand form of the 奚 component in the traditional character 雞.

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

犬 quǎn dog

Pictograph of a dog.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (8 of 15 verified)

状默哭臭莽倏吠類猷獒肰猋獎尨狀

Iconic (10)

突献伏狱戾獄獸犮猒獻

Unknown (2)

器幸

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

厣畎

Deleted (1)

兽

Simplified (1)

厌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhwenX[k]ʷʰˤ[e][n]ʔ dog

說文解字

《說文》：“犬，狗之有縣蹏者也。象形。孔子曰：‘視犬之字如畫狗也。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.750
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

升 shēng ascend, rise

Pictograph of a spoon with something inside it. Spoons are used to lift things up.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

陞昇

Meaning (2)

陞昇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyings-təŋ 1/10th of a dǒu 斗
syings-təŋ rise (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“升，十龠也。从斗，亦象形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

天 tiān, tian sky

Original meaning: head

Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a head.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

吞蚕忝祆

Iconic (1)

吴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

昊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthenl̥ˤi[n] heaven
xenl̥ˤi[n] (W dialect: l̥ˤ- > Hàn-time *xˤ- > MC x-)heaven

說文解字

《說文》：“天，顛也。至高无上，从一、大。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.40-41漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

雞 jī chicken Traditional

Originally was a pictograph of a chicken. Later changed to a phonosemantic compound of 奚 and 隹 (bird).

Components

奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?
隹
隹 Meaning component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkejkˤe fowl, chicken

說文解字

《說文》：“雞，知時畜也。从隹，奚聲。鷄，籀文雞从鳥。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)