chōng​diàn​bǎo

power bank

chōng fill

Pictograph of an adult person with a hairpin in their hair, indicating being fully grown up into adulthood. In ancient China, adults usually wore a hairpin. Similar in origin to .

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhuwngtʰuŋ full, fill

說文解字

《說文》:“充,長也;高也。从儿,育省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
許進雄《簡明中國文字學》p.339-340
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

diàn electricity Simplified

Original meaning: lightning

Simplified form of , which depicts lightning () during a rainstorm (). The component was deleted for simplification.

Components

Deleted component
rain
SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode

bǎo treasure Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts an assortment of valuable things, such as jade (), being stored safely under a roof ().

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
Iconic component
jade

Sources

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

diàn electricity Traditional

Original meaning: lightning

Depicts lightning () during a rainstorm ().

Components

Meaning component
rain
SoundIconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts lightning.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartdenHlˤi[n]-s lightning

說文解字

《說文》:“電,陰陽激燿也。从雨,从申。,古文電。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.981-982
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

bǎo treasure Traditional

Depicts an assortment of valuable things, including jade () and shells (), being stored safely under a roof (). The component represents the sound.

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
𤣩
𤣩 Iconic component
jade

𤣩 is a component form of .

Sound component
fǒu pottery
Iconic component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpawXpˤuʔ precious thing

說文解字

《說文》:“寶,珍也。从宀,从王,从貝,缶聲。寚,古文寶省貝。”

Sources

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