bǎo​shǒu​dǎng

conservative party

bǎo protect

Depicts a person carrying a child on their back.

Components

Iconic component
rén person

is a component form of .

Iconic component
zi, zǐ child

Depicts a child being carried.

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

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpawXpˤuʔ protect

說文解字

《說文》:“保,養也。从人,从省。,古文孚。,古文保。,古文保不省。”

Sources

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

shǒu defend

Depicts a hand () guarding a building ().

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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
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 Jin 266-316 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyuwXs-tuʔ keep, guard
syuwHs.tuʔ-s territory in somebody's guard, fief

說文解字

《說文》:“守,守官也。从宀,从寸。寺府之事者。从寸,寸,法度也。”

Sources

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

dǎng political party Simplified

Original meaning: dark

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
Simplified component
r, ér child

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Sources

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

dǎng political party Traditional

Original meaning: dark

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
Meaning component
hēi black
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "dark", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttangXtˤaŋʔ 500 families; relatives

說文解字

《說文》:“黨,不鮮也。从黑,尚聲。”

Sources

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