放鞭炮
fàng​biān​pào

set off firecrackers

放 fàng put

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 方 represents the sound.

Components

方
方 Sound component
fāng, fang square
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴. Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjangXpaŋʔ imitate
pjangHpaŋ-s release; let go

說文解字

《說文》：“放，逐也。从攴，方聲。”

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)

鞭 biān whip

Phonosemantic compound. 革 represents the meaning and 便 represents the sound.

Components

革
革 Meaning component
gé leather
便
便 Sound component
biàn, pián convenience

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjienpe[n] whip (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“鞭，驅也。从革，便聲。，古文鞭。”

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)

炮 pào large gun, cannon

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 包 represents the sound.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
包
包 Sound component
bāo wrap

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰruːs
bruː

說文解字

《說文》：“炮，毛炙肉也。从火，包聲。”

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)