中国地质调查局
Zhōng​guó Dì​zhì Diào​chá​jú

China Geological Survey

中 zhōng, zhòng central

Depicts a flagpole. There is a circle in the middle marking the center of the flagpole. In older forms of the character, the flagpole has streamers at the top and bottom used to show the direction of the wind.

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
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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 11 verified)

种冲钟忠仲肿衷忡盅舯沖

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

仲衷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjuwngtruŋ center
trjuwngHtruŋ-s hit the center

說文解字

《說文》：“中，內也。从口、丨，上下通。，古文中。，籀文中。”

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)

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

地 de, dì earth

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
也
也 Sound component
yě also
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdijH[l]ˤej-s earth, ground

說文解字

《說文》：“地，元气初分，輕、清、陽為天；重、濁、陰為地。萬物所陳列也。从土，也聲。墬，籀文地从。”

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)

质 zhì nature, substance Simplified

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Simplified form of 質. Phonosemantic compound. 斦 represents the sound and 贝 represents the meaning.

Components

斤
斤 Simplified component
jīn axe

Shorthand for the phonetic 斦 component in the traditional character 質.

贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
贝 hints at the original meaning of 质, "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of 质 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

踬𬃊

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode

调 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Simplified

Simplified form of 調. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

周
周 Sound component
zhōu cycle
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

查 chá investigate

Original meaning: hawthorn tree

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 且 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hawthorn tree", now written as 柤. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
且
且 Sound component
qiě moreover
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 且 than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

渣喳碴楂馇揸猹齄

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsraː
zraː
zraː

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

局 jú bureau

Original meaning: bent, curved

Phonosemantic compound. 尸 represents the meaning and 句 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bent, curved". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸
尸 Meaning component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person bending over.

Change in meaning
尸 hints at the original meaning of 局, "bent, curved", which is no longer the most common meaning of 局 in modern Mandarin.
句
句 Sound component
jù sentence

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

锔焗侷鋦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjowkN-kʰ(r)ok bent, curved
gjowk[g](r)ok department

說文解字

《說文》：“局，促也。从口在尺下，復局之。一曰博所以行棊。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.101
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)

質 zhì nature, substance Traditional

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Phonosemantic compound. 斦 represents the sound and 貝 represents the meaning.

Components

斦
斦 Sound component
zhì, yín chopping block
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 質, "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of 質 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

櫍躓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrijH[t]<r>ip-s hostage; gift
tsyitt-lit substance, solid part

說文解字

《說文》：“質，以物相贅，从貝，从斦。闕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

調 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
周
周 Sound component
zhōu cycle
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdew[d]ˤiw tune (v.), adjust

說文解字

《說文》：“調，和也。从言，周聲。”

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)