quán​zé

full responsibility

quán entire

Original meaning: pure jade

Depicts jade () that is entirely pure and flawless. Based on the original meaning "pure jade". The meaning later shifted to "complete" and "entire".

Components

Unknown component
characterless component

The purpose of this component is unclear.

Unknown component
wáng king

Character Evolution

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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 10 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzjwen[dz]o[n] complete (adj.)

說文解字

《說文》:“,完也。从入,从工。全,篆文从玉。純玉曰全。,古文仝。”

Sources

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

responsibility Simplified

Original meaning: taxation

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

Sound component
thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

responsibility Traditional

Original meaning: taxation

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

Sound component
thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsreaks-tˤrek demand payment
tsreaks-tˤrek blame
tsreaHs-tˤrek-s debt

說文解字

《說文》:“責,求也。从貝,朿聲。”

Sources

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