Pictograph of a right-side up person (亻) and an upside-down person (𠤎), depicting the meaning "turn around" or "transform".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xwaeH | qʷʰˤ<r>aj-s | transform |
說文解字
《說文》：“化，教行也。从，从人，亦聲。”
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)
Simplified
Triple of 口. Depicts several types of things together.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | phimX | pʰr[ə]mʔ | kind, class |
說文解字
《說文》：“品，眾庶也。从三口。”
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)
Depicts a woman (女) sitting under a roof (宀). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | peace(ful) |
| 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | how | |
| 'an | [ʔ]ˤa[n] | 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty) |
說文解字
《說文》：“安，靜也。从女在宀下。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: pure jade
Depicts jade (玉) that is entirely pure and flawless. Based on the original meaning "pure jade". The meaning later shifted to "complete" and "entire".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzjwen | [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
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | gjeX | [g]reʔ | skill |
說文解字
《說文》：“技，巧也。从手，支聲。”
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)
Simplified
Original meaning: city road
Simplified form of 術. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. The traditional component 行 was removed for simplification. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》：“秫，稷之黏者。从禾、术，象形。术，秫或省禾。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Components
Historical Pronunciations
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | mjaeng | mraŋ | bright |
說文解字
《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)
Simplified
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | haewk | m-kˤruk | study; imitate |
說文解字
《說文》：“斆，覺悟也。从教，从冖，冖，尚矇也，臼聲。學，篆文斅省。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.247-248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)
Traditional
Original meaning: city road
Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zywit | Cə-lut | technique |
說文解字
《說文》：“術，邑中道也。从行，术聲。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
說文解字
《說文》：“說，說釋也。从言、兌。一曰談說。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Traditional
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syo | s-ta | write |
說文解字
《說文》：“書，箸也。从聿，者聲。”
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)