兵荒马乱
bīng​huāng​mǎ​luàn

war-torn

兵 bīng soldier

Pictograph of two hands (廾) holding a weapon.

Components

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Depicts a weapon.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

宾乒乓浜

Remnant (2)

乒乓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjaengpraŋ weapon

說文解字

《說文》：“，械也。从廾持斤，并力之皃。，古文兵从人、廾、干。兵，籀文。”

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)

荒 huāng wasteland

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 巟 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
巟
巟 Sound component
huāng a watery waste

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 3 verified)

慌谎謊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwangm̥ˤaŋ wasteland; uncultivated land

說文解字

《說文》：“荒，蕪也。从艸，巟聲。一曰艸淹地也。”

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)

马 mǎ horse Simplified

Simplified form of 馬. Pictograph of a horse.

Component uses

Meaning (6 of 57 verified)

验驻骑骗驱驶驾腾冯驳骤驰闯骚骄骇驴驼驯骆蓦骏羁骡驭驮驿驹骥骋驸骁骧骈骛骅骞骊骓骠驷骜驽驺骘骐骖骝骀骢驵骕骟骒骣骦𬴐

Sound (5 of 8 verified)

吗妈玛码骂蚂犸杩

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.741-742漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

乱 luàn confusion, mess Simplified

Original meaning: untangle threads

Simplified form of 亂. Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".

Components

舌
舌 Simplified component
shé tongue

Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.

乚
乚 Distinguishing component
yǐn, yà turning stroke

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.960漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

馬 mǎ horse Traditional

Pictograph of a horse.

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

Component uses

Meaning (8 of 49 verified)

驗驚驩駮騾驅驀驟駕駝驌騙驊馮馳駛騎驎羈駐騁騫騷驢驦馴騰驕驥驛駁馭騶馱騭駟駑駒騖駢駱騅駿驪駭驤騮闖駙

Sound (5 of 6 verified)

碼螞罵嗎瑪媽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmaeXmˤraʔ horse

說文解字

《說文》：“馬，怒也；武也。象馬頭髦尾四足之形。，古文。，籀文馬與同，有髦。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.741-742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)

亂 luàn confusion, mess Traditional

Original meaning: untangle threads

Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".

Components

𤔔
𤔔 SoundIconic component
luàn (untangle threads), to govern

Depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame.

乚
乚 Distinguishing component
yǐn, yà turning stroke

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlwanH[r]ˤo[n]-s disorder, rebellion

說文解字

《說文》：“亂，治也。从乙。乙，治之也。从。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.960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)