初试身手
chū​shì​shēn​shǒu

debut

初 chū beginning

Depicts cutting out fabric (衤) with a knife (刀), the first step in making clothes.

Components

衤
衤 Iconic component
yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

刀
刀 Iconic component
dāo knife

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrhjo[ts]ʰra beginning

說文解字

《說文》：“初，始也。从刀，从衣。裁衣之始也。”

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)

试 shì test Simplified

Simplified form of 試. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 式 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

式
式 Sound component
shì, shi style

Sources

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

身 shēn body

Pictograph of a person with a protruding midsection.

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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 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 (2 of 5 verified)

躺躲躯躬軀

Iconic (1)

孕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyinn̥i[ŋ] body; self

說文解字

《說文》：“身，躳也。象人之身。从人，聲。”

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)

手 shǒu, shou hand

Pictograph of a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (8 of 23 verified)

举拿掌摩拳攀摹挚擎挛掣掰挈挲搿擘搴舉掱擊攣拏摯

Iconic (2)

承拜

Deleted (1)

击

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyuwXn̥uʔ hand

說文解字

《說文》：“手，拳也。象形。，古文手。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.844
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

試 shì test Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 式 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
式
式 Sound component
shì, shi style

Character Evolution

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-SagartsyiHl̥ək-s test, try

說文解字

《說文》：“試，用也。从言，式聲。《虞書》曰：‘明試以功。’”

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)