反射星云
fǎn​shè​xīng​yún

reflection nebula

反 fǎn reverse

Original meaning: climb

Pictograph of a hand (又) climbing a cliff (厂). Based on original meaning "climb", now written as 扳. The meaning later shifted to "pull" and "reverse".

Components

厂
厂 Iconic component
chǎng cliff, (roof)
又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 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

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

版板饭返贩扳阪坂畈舨钣飯販

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

返叛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaenX[b]ˤranʔ dignified, grand
pjonXCə.panʔ reverse (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“反，覆也。从又、厂。反形。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.206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)

射 shè shoot

Depicts a hand (又) pulling back a bowstring (弓) with an arrow (矢) to shoot. Later written as 身 and 寸.

Components

弓
弓 Iconic component
gōng bow

Depicts a bow.

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

Depicts an arrow.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 矢 than it was in ancient scripts.
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Originally 又 but later reanalyzed as 寸. Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

谢麝榭謝睪𠬤

Remnant (2)

睪𠬤

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzyaeHCə.lAk-s shoot; archer
zyekCə.lAk hit with bow and arrow

說文解字

《說文》：“，弓弩發於身而中於遠也。从矢，从身。射，篆文从寸。寸，法度也，亦手也。”

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)

星 xīng a star

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze ~1200 - 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 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 (1 of 5 verified)

醒猩腥惺戥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

惺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsengs-tsʰˤeŋ star

說文解字

《說文》：“曐，萬物之精，上為列星。从晶，生聲。一曰象形，从口，古口復注中，故與日同。，古文星。星，曐或省。”

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)

云 yún clouds Simplified

Depicts a swirl of clouds up (上) in the sky.

Components

上
上 Meaning component
shàng, shang up
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 上 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a swirl of clouds.

Character Evolution

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 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 14 verified)

运魂坛旬匀芸酝耘纭陰雲紜勻侌

Simplified (3)

动层尝

Meaning (2 of 3 verified)

陰雲侌

Iconic (1)

昙

Unknown (1)

藝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjun[ɢ]ʷə[r] say

說文解字

《說文》：“雲，山川气也。从雨，云象雲回轉形。云，古文省雨。云說文古文;2，亦古文雲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.819
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

雲 clouds Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 云 represents the sound.

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
云
云 SoundMeaning component
yún clouds

Character Evolution

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 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

蕓

Iconic (1)

曇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjun[ɢ]ʷə[n] cloud

說文解字

《說文》：“雲，山川气也。从雨，云象雲回轉形。云，古文省雨。云說文古文;2，亦古文雲。”

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)