五味杂陈
wǔ​wèi​zá​chén

mixed emotions

五 wǔ five

Origin unclear. Originally an X-shape.

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

伍吾

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

伍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnguXC.ŋˤaʔ five

說文解字

《說文》：“五，五行也。从二。陰陽在天地間交午也。，古文五省。”

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)

味 wèi taste

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 未 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
未
未 Sound component
wèi not yet

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jHm[ə]t-s taste (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“味，滋味也。从口，未聲。”

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)

杂 zá mixed, various Simplified

Simplified form of 雜. Phonosemantic compound. 衣 represents the meaning and 集 represents the sound.

Components

九
九 Simplified component
jiǔ nine

Shorthand for the 衣 component in the traditional character 雜.

集
集 Remnant component
jí gather, collect

Shorthand for the 集 component in the traditional character 雜.

Component uses

Sound (1)

染

Sources

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

陈 chén exhibit, display Simplified

Simplified form of 陳. Composed of 阝 and 东. The purpose of 东 is unclear.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

东
东 Unknown component
dōng east

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Sources

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

雜 zá mixed, various Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 衣 represents the meaning and 集 represents the sound.

Components

衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 衣 than it was in ancient scripts.
集
集 Sound component
jí gather, collect
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 集 than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzop[dz]ˤ[u]p mixed

說文解字

《說文》：“雜，五彩相會。从衣，集聲。”

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)

陳 chén exhibit, display Traditional

Composed of 阝 and 東. The purpose of 東 is unclear.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

東
東 Unknown component
dōng east

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrinlri[n] arrange
drinHlri[n]-s battle array

說文解字

《說文》：“陳，宛丘，舜後媯滿之所封。从，从木，申聲。，古文陳。”

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)