劳动改造
láo​dòng​gǎi​zào

reform through labor

劳 láo labor Simplified

Simplified form of 勞. Depicts the hard work of sewing clothes (衣) with only firelight (炏). Later the 力 (strength, power) component was added.

Components

艹
艹 Simplified component
cao, cǎo grass

Shorthand for the 炏 (flame) component in the traditional character 勞.

衣
衣 IconicRemnant component
yī clothes
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 衣 than it was in ancient scripts.
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

捞唠涝崂痨耢铹

Sources

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

动 dòng move Simplified

Simplified form of 動. Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning. The sound component 重 was simplified to 云.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
云
云 Simplified component
yún clouds

Shorthand based on the cursive form of the 重 component in the traditional character 動.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

恸

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

恸

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

改 gǎi change

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 己 represents the sound.

Components

己
己 Sound component
jǐ self
Change in sound
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkojXC.qˤəʔ change (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“改，更也。从攴、己。”

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)

造 zào construct

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

告
告 Sound component
gào tell

Originally this component was a pictograph of grass, similar to 艸, but later was reanalyzed as the visually similar 告.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

糙簉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzawX[dzˤ]uʔ make
tshawH(mə-)tsʰˤuʔ-s go to

說文解字

就也。从辵告聲。譚長說：造，上士也。

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)

勞 láo labor Traditional

Depicts the hard work of sewing clothes (衣) with only firelight (炏). Later the 力 (strength, power) component was added.

Components

炏
炏 Iconic component
yán, kài flame
衣
衣 IconicRemnant component
yī clothes
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 衣 than it was in ancient scripts.
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

撈澇嘮嶗癆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlaw[r]ˤaw toil
lawH[r]ˤaw-s to reward for toil

說文解字

《說文》：“勞，劇也。从力，熒省。熒火燒冂，用力者勞。，古文勞从悉。”

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)

動 dòng move Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 重 represents the sound.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
重
重 Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 1 verified)

慟

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

慟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartduwngX[Cə-m-]tˤoŋʔ move

說文解字

《說文》：“動，作也。从力，重聲。，古文動从辵。”

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)