shí​zhì HSK7

substance

shí, shi real Simplified

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Simplified form of . Depicts a string of money () under a roof (). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true". The component was changed to for simplification.

Components

Meaning component
mián roof
Simplified component
tóu, tou head

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

zhì nature, substance Simplified

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Simplified component
jīn axe

Shorthand for the phonetic component in the traditional character .

Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode

shí, shi real Traditional

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Depicts a string of money () under a roof (). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true".

Components

Meaning component
mián roof
Meaning component
guàn a string of 1000 coins

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzyitmə.li[t] fruit; full

說文解字

《說文》:“實,富也。从宀,从貫。貫,貨貝也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.593漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhì nature, substance Traditional

Original meaning: pledge, pawn

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Sound component
zhì, yín chopping block
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "pledge, pawn", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrijH[t]<r>ip-s hostage; gift
tsyitt-lit substance, solid part

說文解字

《說文》:“質,以物相贅,从貝,从斦。闕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p. 522
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica