丧权辱国
sàng​quán​rǔ​guó

forfeit sovereignty

丧 sàng mourning Simplified

Simplified form of 喪. Depicts multiple mouths (吅) wailing to mourn the death (亡) of someone. 桑 and 亡 represent the sound.

Components

桑
桑 Sound component
sāng mulberry tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 桑 than it was in ancient scripts.
吅
吅 IconicSimplified component
xuān, sòng noise

Depicts multiple mouths wailing.

亡
亡 SoundMeaning component
wáng death
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 亡 than it was in ancient scripts.

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.107漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

权 quán power Simplified

Simplified form of 權. Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 權.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

辱 rǔ humiliate

Original meaning: to use a farming tool for weeding

Depicts a hand (寸) using a farming tool (辰) to remove dirty weeds. Based on the original meaning "to use a farming tool for weeding", now written as 耨. The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "disgrace" and "humiliate".

Components

辰
辰 Iconic component
chén early morning

Depicts a farming tool.

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

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

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

褥耨缛溽蓐縟媷

Iconic (1)

耨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyowknok disgrace

說文解字

《說文》：“辱，耻也。从寸在辰下。失耕時，於封畺上戮之也。辰者，農之時也。故房星為辰，田候也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1285
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

国 guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
玉
玉 SoundSimplified component
yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

喪 sàng mourning Traditional

Depicts multiple mouths (吅) wailing to mourn the death (亡) of someone. 桑 and 亡 represent the sound.

Components

桑
桑 Sound component
sāng mulberry tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 桑 than it was in ancient scripts.
吅
吅 Iconic component
xuān, sòng noise

Depicts multiple mouths wailing.

亡
亡 SoundMeaning component
wáng death
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 亡 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsangs-mˤaŋ mourning, burial
sangHs-mˤaŋ-s lose; destroy

說文解字

《說文》：“喪，亡也。从哭，从亡，會意。亡亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.107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)

權 quán power, right Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
雚
雚 Sound component
guàn, huán heron

Character Evolution

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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjwen[g]ʷrar weight of a steelyard

說文解字

《說文》：“權，黃華木。从木，雚聲。一曰反常。”

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)

國 guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
或
或 Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)