安居乐业
ān​jū​lè​yè

settled and content

安 ān peaceful

Depicts a woman (女) sitting under a roof (宀). Older forms of this character depict a person kneeling with a mark on their thigh and shin to indicate sitting.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

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 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

案按氨鞍胺晏铵桉銨

Meaning (1)

晏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] peace(ful)
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] how
'an[ʔ]ˤa[n] 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》：“安，靜也。从女在宀下。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫徐超《古漢字通解500例》p.1-2
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

居 jū live

Phonosemantic compound. 户 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

户
户 Meaning component
hù, hu door
古
古 Sound component
gǔ old
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

据剧锯踞倨裾琚椐鋸

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

据踞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjok(r)a squat; stay, dwell
kjoka final particle
kjoHk(r)a-s (based on rhyme evidence)dwelling

說文解字

《說文》：“居，蹲也。从尸，古者居从古。踞，俗居从足。”

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)

乐 lè, yuè happy, music Simplified

Pictograph of an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. The simplified character 乐 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 樂.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

砾栎跞铄泺轹

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

烁

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

业 yè profession Simplified

Original meaning: attack

Simplified character from the top 5 strokes of the traditional 業. Depicts a person (大) carrying a weapon (丵). Based on the original meaning "attack". The meaning later shifted to "expand territory" and "develop business".

Components

丵
丵 SimplifiedRemnant component
zhuó chisel

Shorthand for the 丵 component. Depicts a chisel-shaped weapon.

業
大 Deleted component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.

Component uses

Simplified (2)

显虚

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

邺

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.168-169Chinese Language Stack Exchange
Readings & variants
Unicode

樂 lè, yuè happy, music Traditional

Depicts an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. 白 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white
Change in sound
幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

Depicts the wooden base of a musical instrument.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

藥櫟瓅鑠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

爍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlak[r]ˤawk to cure
lak[r]ˤawk joy; enjoy
ngaewH[ŋ]ˤrawk-s cause to rejoice
ngaewk[ŋ]ˤrawk music

說文解字

《說文》：“樂，五聲八音緫名。象鼓鞞。木，虡也。”

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)

業 yè profession Traditional

Original meaning: attack

Depicts a person (大) carrying a weapon (丵). Based on the original meaning "attack". The meaning later shifted to "expand territory" and "develop business".

Components

丵
丵 Iconic component
zhuó chisel

Depicts a chisel-shaped weapon.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person.


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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 2 verified)

鄴嶪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjaep[m-qʰ](r)[a]p work (n.)
ngjaep[m-qʰ](r)[a]p horizontal board of a bell stand or frame
ngjaep[ŋ](r)[a]p strong, sturdy

說文解字

《說文》：“業，大版也，所以飾縣鍾鼓，捷業如鋸齒，以白畫之，象其鉏鋙相承也。从丵，从巾，巾象版。《詩》曰：‘巨業維樅。’，古文業。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.168-169Chinese Stack Exchange
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)