Zhōng​guó Měi​shù​guǎn

National Art Museum

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)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

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

guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
jade

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

měi beautiful

Pictograph of a person with ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Components

Iconic component
yáng sheep

Depicts ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Iconic component
dà, dài big

Used here as a pictograph of 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmijX[m]rəjʔ beautiful

說文解字

《說文》:“美,甘也。从羊,从大。”

Sources

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

shù art Simplified

Original meaning: city road

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. The traditional component was removed for simplification. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".

Components

Deleted component
xíng, háng walk

The traditional component was removed for simplification.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "city road", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
shù glutinous millet

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

說文解字

《說文》:“秫,稷之黏者。从禾、术,象形。术,秫或省禾。”

Sources

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

guǎn public building Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shí eat

is a component form of .

Sound component
guān official

Sources

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

guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
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)

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

art, skill Traditional

Original meaning: city road

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".

Components

Meaning component
xíng, háng walk
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "city road", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
shù glutinous millet

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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzywitCə-lut technique

說文解字

《說文》:“術,邑中道也。从行,术聲。”

Sources

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

guǎn public building Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
eat

is a component form of .

Sound component
guān official

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartkwanH[k]ˤo[n]ʔ-s lodging-house

說文解字

《說文》:“館,客舍也。从食,官聲。《周禮》:‘五十里有市,市有館,館有積,以待朝聘之客。’”

Sources

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