xiàng​liàng​kōng​jiān

vector space

xiàng toward

Depicts a mouth () in a closed space () making an echo sound. Based on the original meaning "echo; sound", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "direction" and "toward".

Components

Iconic component
mián roof
Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjangHn̥aŋ-s window facing North; turn towards

說文解字

《說文》:“向,北出牖也。从宀,从口。”

Sources

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

liàng, liang, liáng measure

Phonosemantic compound. (pictograph of a bag) represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

SoundRemnant component
yáng bright

Modern form written like .

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

Depicts a bag. Modern form written like .

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljang[r]aŋ measure (v.)
ljangH[r]aŋ-s measure (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“量,稱輕重也。从重省,曏省聲。,古文量。”

Sources

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

kōng, kòng empty

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
xué, jué cave
Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhuwngkʰˤoŋ hollow, empty; hole
khuwngXkʰˤoŋʔ hollow, empty; hole

說文解字

《說文》:“空,竅也。从穴,工聲。”

Sources

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

jiān, jian, jiàn space Simplified

Simplified form of . Depicts sunlight () shining through the gap in a door ().

Components

Iconic component
mén, men door
Iconic component
sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

jiān, jian, jiàn space Traditional

Depicts sunlight () shining through the gap in a door ().

Components

Iconic component
mén, men door
Iconic component
sun

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkeankˤre[n] interval
keankˤre[n] 間關 sound of a chariot's linchpin (Ode 218.1)
heanN-kˤre[n] idle

Sources

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