民族团结 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

mínzútuánjié

national unity

mín people

Original meaning: slave

Pictograph of an eye (目) being poked with something sharp. In ancient China, slaves were sometimes punished by blinding them with a sharp object. Based on the original meaning "slave". The meaning later shifted to "common person".

Components

目 Iconic component

mù eye

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 目 than it was in ancient scripts.

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a sharp object poking an eye.

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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Qin 221-206 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

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

眠抿泯岷珉苠昬敃

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjin	mi[ŋ]	people

說文解字

《說文》：“民，眾萌也。从古文之象。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.855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)

zú clan, tribe, race

Depicts a flag (㫃) representing a clan and an arrow (矢) representing their military power.

Components

㫃 Iconic component

yǎn flags flying

矢 Iconic component

shǐ arrow

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

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzuwk	[dz]ˤok	clan

說文解字

《說文》：“族，矢鋒也，束之族族也。从，从矢。”

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)

tuán ball Simplified

Simplified form of 團. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 專 represents the sound.

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

才 Simplified component

cái, cai talent

Shorthand for the 專 component in the traditional character 團.

Sources

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

jié, jiē knot Simplified

Simplified form of 結. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 吉 represents the sound.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

吉 Sound component

jí lucky

Sources

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

tuán ball Traditional

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

Components

囗 Meaning component

wéi, guó surround

專 Sound component

zhuān monopolize

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dwan	C.[d]ˤon	round, plenty

說文解字

《說文》：“團，圜也。从囗，專聲。”

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)

jié, jiē knot, tie Traditional

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

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

吉 Sound component

jí lucky

Character Evolution

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

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ket	kˤi[t]	tie (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“結，締也。从糸，吉聲。”

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)