处世原则
chǔ​shì​yuán​zé

principles of conduct

处 chù, chǔ, chu place Simplified

Simplified form of 處. Phonosemantic compound. 夂 represents the meaning and 虎 represents the sound.

Components

夂
夂 Meaning component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.

卜
卜 Simplified component
bo fortune telling

Shorthand for the 虎 component in the traditional character 處.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

咎

說文解字

《說文》：“咎，災也。从人，从各。各者，相違也。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

世 shì generation

Original meaning: leaf

Depicts three leaves on branches of a tree. Remnant from the top part of 枼. Based on the original meaning "leaf", now written as 葉. The meaning later shifted to "generation", since leaves pile up in hundreds much like a generation.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 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 (0 of 3 verified)

泄绁贳

Iconic (1)

枼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyejHl̥ap-s generation

說文解字

《說文》：“世，三十年為一世，从卉而曳長之，亦取其聲也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.159劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol 3, p.70
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

原 yuán source

Depicts water coming from a spring (泉) on a cliff (厂).

Components

厂
厂 Iconic component
chǎng cliff, (roof)
泉
泉 SoundIconic component
quán spring

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

愿源螈塬願

Meaning (1)

源

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjwonN-ɢʷar spring, source; origin
ngjwonN-ɢʷar high plain (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“，水泉本也。从灥出厂下。原，篆文从泉。”

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)

则 zé rule Simplified

Original meaning: law

Simplified form of 則. Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎
鼎 IconicRemnant component
dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 贝.

刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

测侧贼厕恻铡鲗

Remnant (1)

贼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

铡

Sources

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

處 chù, chǔ, chu place Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 夂 represents the meaning and 虎 represents the sound.

Components

夂
夂 Meaning component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.

虎
虎 Sound component
hǔ, hu tiger

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyhoXt.qʰaʔ be at
tsyhoHt.qʰaʔ-s place (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“処，止也，得几而止。从几，从夂。處，処或从虍聲。”

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)

則 zé rule Traditional

Original meaning: law

Depicts carving inscriptions on bronzeware (鼎) with a knife (刂). Based on the original meaning "law". In ancient China, some legal writings were inscribed on bronzeware.

Components

鼎
鼎 IconicRemnant component
dǐng, zhēn cooking pot

Modern form looks like unrelated 貝.

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

刂 is a component form of 刀.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 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 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

賊測惻廁側鰂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsok[ts]ˤək then
tsok[ts]ˤək rule, pattern

說文解字

《說文》：“則，等畫物也。从刀，从貝。貝，古之物貨也。，古文則。，亦古文則。，籀文則从鼎。”

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)