tóng​dǎng

accomplice

tóng, tong, tòng together

Depicts a large object () like a shoulder carriage that requires the cooperation of multiple people working together to carry.

Components

Iconic component
fán all

Depicts a large object like a shoulder carriage.

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Alludes to people speaking together to communicate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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

Iconic (2)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartduwnglˤoŋ together, join

說文解字

《說文》:“同,合會也。从,从口。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.614
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

dǎng political party Simplified

Original meaning: dark

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
Simplified component
r, ér child

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Sources

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

dǎng political party Traditional

Original meaning: dark

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "dark". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
Meaning component
hēi black
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "dark", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttangXtˤaŋʔ 500 families; relatives

說文解字

《說文》:“黨,不鮮也。从黑,尚聲。”

Sources

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