jù​zhù

masterpiece

large

Pictograph of a tool for measuring right angles. Based on the original meaning "carpenter's square", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 10 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡaʔ
Unicodeghiǔ

說文解字

《說文》:“巨,規巨也。从工,象手持之。榘,巨或从木、矢,矢者,其中正也。,古文巨。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.383林志強《《文源》評注》p.271
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhe, zháo, zhù [progress particle]

Original meaning: chopsticks

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as . The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "chopsticks", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
zhě one who...

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjoHt<r>ak-s place (n.); visible
drjakm-t<r>ak put on clothes; be attached
trjakt<r>ak to place

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica