史景迁
Shǐ Jǐng​qiān

Jonathan D. Spence

史 shǐ history

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a container for writing utensils.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

驶吏駛

Iconic (1)

吏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsriXs-rəʔ scribe

說文解字

《說文》：“史，記事者也。从又持中；中，正也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.213-214
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

景 jǐng scenery

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

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
京
京 Sound component
jīng capital city

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (1 of 2 verified)

影憬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjaengXC.qraŋʔ bright; image
kjaengX[C.q]raŋʔ a kind of coat

說文解字

《說文》：“景，光也。从日，京聲。”

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)

迁 qiān move Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 千 represents the sound. Simplified form of 遷.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

千
千 Sound component
qiān thousand

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

跹

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsn̥ʰiːn

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

遷 qiān move, shift Traditional

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

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

韆躚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshjen[tsʰ]ar move (v.)

說文解字

登也。从辵𠨧聲。

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)