事过境迁
shì​guò​jìng​qiān

changed circumstances

事 shì, shi matter

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils. 事 and 史 were originally written the same, but later an extra mark was added to distinguish them.

Components

◎
◎ Distinguishing component
characterless component

Mark added to distinguish 事 from 史.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a container for writing utensils.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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-SagartdzriH[m-s-]rəʔ-s serve; service, affair

說文解字

《說文》：“事，職也。从史，之省聲。，古文事。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.214
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

过 guò, guo pass Simplified

Simplified form of 過. Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 咼 represents the sound. The 咼 component was simplified to 寸.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

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

Shorthand for the 咼 component in the traditional character 過.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

挝

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

境 jìng boundary

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

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
竟
竟 Sound component
jìng actually

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjaengX[k]raŋʔ boundary

說文解字

《說文新附》：“境，疆也。从土，竟聲。經典通用竟。”

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)

迁 qiān move Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 千 represents the sound. Simplified form of 遷.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

千
千 Sound component
qiān thousand

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

跹

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsn̥ʰiːn

Sources

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

過 guò, guo pass Traditional

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

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

咼
咼 Sound component
chat

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

撾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkwaCə.kʷˤaj tough, fibrous (vegetables)
kwakʷˤaj to pass
kwaHkʷˤaj-s to pass; transgress

說文解字

度也。从辵咼聲。

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)

遷 qiān move, shift Traditional

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

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

𠨧
𠨧 Sound component
qiān ascend
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠨧 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (1 of 2 verified)

韆躚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshjen[tsʰ]ar move (v.)

說文解字

登也。从辵𠨧聲。

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)