封斋节
fēng​zhāi​jié

Lent

封 fēng letter

Original meaning: create a boundary with plants

Depicts using hands (寸) to cultivate plants (丰). Based on the original meaning "create a boundary with plants". The meaning later shifted to "divide off", "seal", and "letter".

Components

寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

丰
丰 SoundIconic component
fēng luxuriant

Depicts a plant growing in the ground.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

葑犎幫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjowngp(r)oŋ raise a mound; enfeoff

說文解字

《說文》：“封，爵諸矦之土也。从之，从土，从寸，守其制度也。公侯百里，伯七十里，子男五十里。，古文封省。，籀文从。”

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)

斋 zhāi vegetarian diet Simplified

Simplified form of 齋. Phonosemantic compound. 示 represents the meaning and 齊 represents the sound.

Components

齐
齐 SoundRemnant component
qí even
而
而 Simplified component
ér and

Shorthand for the bottom half of the traditional character 齋.

Sources

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

节 jié holiday Simplified

Original meaning: bamboo joint

Simplified form of 節. Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 即 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bamboo joint". Later used as a measure word for segments and divisions of time.

Components

艹
艹 MeaningSimplified component
cao, cǎo grass

Shorthand for the ⺮ component in the traditional character 節.

卩
卩 SoundSimplified component
jié person kneeling

Shorthand for the 即 component in the traditional character 節.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

栉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

栉

Sources

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

齋 vegetarian diet Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 示 represents the meaning and 齊 represents the sound.

Components

齊
齊 Sound component
qí even, uniform
示
示 Meaning component
shì show

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsreajtsˤr[ə]j purify oneself

說文解字

《說文》：“齋，戒潔也。从示，齊省聲。，籀文齋从省。”

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)

節 jié holiday Traditional

Original meaning: bamboo joint

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 即 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bamboo joint". Later used as a measure word for segments and divisions of time.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

即
即 Sound component
jí promptly

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

櫛癤

Meaning (1)

櫛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsettsˤik joint

說文解字

《說文》：“節，竹約也。从竹，即聲。”

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)