wěi​cháo

pretender dynasty

wěi false Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
wèi, wéi do

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

cháo, zhāo dynasty

Original meaning: early morning

Depicts the early part of morning when the sun () can still be seen on the horizon between blades of grass (), and the moon () is still in the sky. Based on the original meaning "early morning". The meaning later shifted to "morning audience at court", "facing", "royal court", and "dynasty".

Components

Iconic component
cǎo grass
Iconic component
sun
Iconic component
yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 (2 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjewm-t<r>aw (morning) audience at court
trjewt<r>aw morning

說文解字

《說文》:“朝,旦也。从倝,舟聲。”

Sources

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

wěi false Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Sound component
wèi, wéi do

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjweHN-ɢʷ(r)aj-sFALSE
ngjweHm-ɢʷ(r)aj-sfalsify; deceive
Zhengzhangŋʷrals

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica