坐观成败
zuò​guān​chéng​bài

fence-sit

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)

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

成 chéng, cheng completed

Original meaning: city

Depicts defending city walls (丁) with an axe (戌). 丁 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city", now written as 城. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

戌
戌 Iconic component
xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Depicts an axe.

丁
丁 SoundIconic component
dīng cubes

Depicts city walls.

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

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

城盛诚晟铖誠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyeng[d]eŋ to become (v.i.)
dzyengm-[d]eŋ to complete (tr. v)

說文解字

《說文》：“成，就也。从戊，丁聲。，古文成从午。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.963-964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)

败 bài be defeated Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 敗.

Components

贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Sources

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

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)

敗 bài be defeated Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.

Components

貝
貝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaejHN-pˤra[t]-s suffer defeat
paejHpˤra[t]-s defeat (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“敗，毁也。从攴、貝。敗賊皆从貝，會意。贁，籀文敗，从賏。”

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)