Kūn​shì​lán

Queensland

kūn elder brother Simplified

Original meaning: insect

Depicts an insect. Based on the original meaning "insect", now preserved in the word 昆虫. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

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 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

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwon[k]ˤu[n] elder brother

說文解字

《說文》:“昆,同也。从日,从比。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.608
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shì, shi scholar, soldier

Pictograph of the head of an axe. Used to represent a soldier.

Character Evolution

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 Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 3 verified)

Meaning (3)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzriX[m-s-]rəʔ officer; gentleman

說文解字

《說文》:“士,事也。數始於一,終於十。从一,从十。孔子曰:‘推十合一為士。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.59-60
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lán orchid Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
cǎo grass

is a component form of .

Simplified component
èr two

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode

kūn Kunlun mountains in Jiang Su province. Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shān mountain
Sound component
kūn elder brother

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkuːn
Unicodekuən

說文解字

崑崙,山名。从山昆聲。《漢書》楊雄文通用昆侖。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

orchid Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

is a component form of .

Sound component
door screen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlank.rˤan orchid

說文解字

《說文》:“蘭,香艸也。从艸,闌聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica