坐井观天
zuò​jǐng​guān​tiān

narrow-minded

坐 zuò sit

Depicts two people (人) sitting on the ground (土).

Components

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
土
土 Iconic component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 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 8 verified)

座挫唑锉痤矬脞銼

Meaning (1)

座

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzwaX[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ sit
dzwaXm-[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ to set
dzwaH[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ-s seat n.

說文解字

《說文》：“，止也。从土，从留省，土，所止也。此與留同意。坐，古文坐。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.909
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

井 jǐng well

Pictograph of the opening of a water well.

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 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 9 verified)

进形青讲刑耕阱肼靑

Simplified (1)

进

Iconic (1)

丹

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

阱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjengXC.tseŋʔ well (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“井，八家一井。象構韓形。‧，之象也。古者伯益初作井。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.428-429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)

观 guān observe Simplified

Simplified form of 觀. Phonosemantic compound. 见 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound.

Components

见
见 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see
又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 觀.

Sources

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

天 tiān, tian sky

Original meaning: head

Depicts a person (大) with an emphasized head. Based on the original meaning "head". The meaning later shifted to "top", "high", and "sky".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a head.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


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 Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 (1 of 4 verified)

吞蚕忝祆

Iconic (1)

吴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

昊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthenl̥ˤi[n] heaven
xenl̥ˤi[n] (W dialect: l̥ˤ- > Hàn-time *xˤ- > MC x-)heaven

說文解字

《說文》：“天，顛也。至高无上，从一、大。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.40-41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)

觀 guān observe Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 見 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound.

Components

見
見 Meaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see
雚
雚 Sound component
guàn, huán heron

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkwanC.qʷˤar look (v.)
kwanHC.qʷˤar-s watchtower
kwanHC.qʷˤar-s 榮觀 imperial palace; walls and watchtowers

說文解字

《說文》：“觀，諦視也。从見，雚聲。，古文觀从囧。”

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)