戊戌维新 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

Wùxū Wéixīn

Hundred Days Reform

wù 5th heavenly stem

Original meaning: battle axe

Pictograph of a battle axe. Similar to 戈, 戉, and 戌.

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 Late Shang ~1100 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	muwH	m(r)uʔ-s (~ *m(r)uʔ)	5th heavenly stem

說文解字

《說文》：“戊，中宮也，象六甲五龍相拘絞也。戊承丁，象人脅。”

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)

xū, qu 11th terrestrial branch

Pictograph of an axe. Similar to 戈 and 戊.

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

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

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

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Xin 9-23 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Iconic (3)

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	swit	s.mi[t]	11th earthly branch

說文解字

《說文》：“戌，滅也。九月陽氣微，萬物畢成，陽下入地也。五行，土生於戊，盛於戌，从戊含一。”

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)

wéi hold together, maintain Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound. Simplified form of 維.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

隹 Sound component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

xīn new

Original meaning: firewood

Phonosemantic component. 辛 represents the sound, and 斤 (axe) and 木 (tree) represent the original meaning "firewood", now written as 薪. The meaning later shifted to "fresh" and "new".

Components

辛 Sound component

xīn laborious

木 Iconic component

mù tree

Depicts a tree being cut for firewood.

Change in meaning

木 hints at the original meaning of 新, "firewood", which is no longer the most common meaning of 新 in modern Mandarin.

斤 Iconic component

jīn axe

Depicts an axe cutting a tree for firewood.

Change in meaning

斤 hints at the original meaning of 新, "firewood", which is no longer the most common meaning of 新 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States ~400 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 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sin	s.tsʰi[n]	new

說文解字

《說文》：“新，取木也。从斤，新聲。”

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)

wéi hold together, maintain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

隹 Sound component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ywij	ɢʷij (? < *ɢʷuj)	rope for tying

說文解字

《說文》：“維，車蓋維也。从糸，隹聲。”

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)