择善固执
zé​shàn​gù​zhí

persevere in good

择 zé select Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 𠬤 represents the sound. Simplified from 擇.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

𠬤
𠬤 Sound component
yì, zé, dù spy on
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

箨

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

善 shàn good

Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). 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
羊 Meaning component
yáng sheep
言
言 Sound component
yán speech
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 言 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

膳缮蟮鳝鄯繕鱔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyenX[g]e[n]ʔ good

說文解字

《說文》：“譱，吉也。从誩，从羊。此與義、美同意。，篆文从言。”

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)

固 gù to become solid

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
古
古 Sound component
gǔ old

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 8 verified)

涸锢崮痼鲴箇錮個

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

涸锢錮

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuH[k]ˤa-s fortified, secure

說文解字

《說文》：“固，四塞也。从囗，古聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

执 zhí hold in hand Simplified

Original meaning: seize

Simplified form of 執. Pictograph of a person with hands (丮) bound by shackles (㚔). Based on the original meaning "seize". The meaning later shifted to "wield power", "carry out", and "hold".

Components

扌
扌 Simplified component
shou, shǒu hand

Shorthand for the 㚔 component in the traditional character 執.

丮
丮 Iconic component
jǐ catch

Depicts a person with two hands outstretched.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

势垫挚亵蛰鸷贽絷

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

挚絷

Simplified (1)

热

Sources

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

擇 zé select Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 睪 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

睪
睪 Sound component
yì spy on
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrlaːɡ
Unicodedjhæk

說文解字

《說文》：“擇，柬選也。从手，睪聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

執 zhí hold in hand Traditional

Original meaning: seize

Pictograph of a person with hands (丮) bound by shackles (㚔). Based on the original meaning "seize". The meaning later shifted to "wield power", "carry out", and "hold".

Components

㚔
㚔 Iconic component
niè, xìng instrument of torture used in ancient times

Depicts shackles.

丮
丮 Iconic component
jǐ catch

Depicts a person with two hands outstretched.


Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (0 of 5 verified)

贄摯墊蟄鷙

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

摯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyip[t]ip seize

說文解字

《說文》：“執，捕罪人也。从丮，从，亦聲。”

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)