开宗明义 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of 開. Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門). The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

門 Deleted component

mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾 Iconic component

gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

邢趼锎岍汧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

荆妍

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants: Unicode

zōng, zong ancestor, sect

Depicts a spiritual (示) edifice (宀), like an ancestral shrine.

Components

宀 Meaning component

mián roof

示 Meaning component

shì show

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

综崇踪棕淙鬃粽琮綜腙

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsowng	[ts]ˤuŋ	ancestral temple

說文解字

《說文》：“宗，尊祖廟也。从宀，从示。”

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)

míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧 Sound Iconic component

jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound

明 and 囧 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
明 *mraŋ
囧 *k-mraŋʔ (dialect: *k.mr- > *kʷr-)

Change in form

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

月 Iconic component

yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjaeng	mraŋ	bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)

yì justice Simplified

Adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 義. Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning Simplified component

yáng sheep

我 Sound Simplified component

wǒ I; me

Change in sound

义 and 我 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
义 *ŋ(r)aj-s
我 *ŋˤajʔ

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

议仪蚁舣

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門).

Components

門 Iconic component

mén, men door

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾 Iconic component

gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khoj	Nə-[k]ʰˤəj	to open (v.i.)
	khoj	[k]ʰˤəj	to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“開，張也。从門，从幵。，古文開。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yì right conduct Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 我 represents the sound. In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).