bāo​pí

foreskin

bāo wrap

Original meaning: to embrace

Depicts a person () hugging a child (). Based on the original meaning "to embrace", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "cover" and "wrap".

Components

SoundIconic component
bāo wrap

Depicts a person hugging. also represents the sound.

Iconic component
zi, zǐ child

Depicts a child. Modern form looks like .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 24 verified)

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaewpˤ<r>u wrap, bundle

說文解字

《說文》:“包,象人褢妊,巳在中,象子未成形也。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

skin

Pictograph of a hand () peeling off the skin from an animal.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an animal with its skin being peeled off.

Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 7 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjem-[p](r)aj skin

說文解字

《說文》:“皮,剝取獸革者謂之皮。从又,為省聲。,古文皮。,籀文皮。”

Sources

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