择善而从
zé​shàn'ér​cóng

follow the 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)

而 ér and

Original meaning: beard

Originally a pictograph of a beard, now written as 耏. The current use as a conjunction is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 8 verified)

需耐鸸恧鲕耎耏鴯

Iconic (2)

耐耏

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

耍

Simplified (1)

斋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyinə and, but

說文解字

《說文》：“而，頰毛也。象毛之形。《周禮》曰：‘作其鱗之而。’”

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)

从 cóng, cōng from Simplified

Pictograph of one person following another.

Components

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

纵丛耸怂枞苁疭

Iconic (6)

旅皆佥㦰從僉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

赍

Simplified (1)

佥

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzloŋ

說文解字

《說文》：“从，相聽也。从二人。”

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)

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)

從 cóng, cōng from Traditional

Originally written as 从, which depicts one person following another. Later 辵 was added to indicate movement.

Components

辵
辵 Meaning component
chuò walk
从
从 Iconic component
cóng, cōng from

Depicts one person following another.

Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 (1 of 6 verified)

縱蹤慫瘲樅聳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzjowng[dz]oŋ to follow
tsjowngtsoŋ longitudinal
dzjowngH[dz]oŋ-s follower

說文解字

《說文》：“從，隨行也。从辵，从从，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)