牵强
qiān​qiǎng

far-fetched

牵 qiān drag Simplified

Depicts a person (人) leading an ox (牛) by the nose (自). 人 was later reanalyzed as 大.

Components

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person. Later reanalyzed as 大.

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 自 than it was in ancient scripts.
牛
牛 Iconic component
niú cow

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.93-94林志強《《文源》評注》p.312
Readings & variants
Unicode

强 qiáng, qiǎng strong Simplified

Phonosemantic component. 弓 represents the meaning and 畺 represents the sound. Originally written as 彊.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
虽
虽 SoundRemnant component
suī although

The purpose of this component is unclear.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

犟襁镪糨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjangN-kaŋ strong
gjangXm-kaŋʔ make an effort

說文解字

《說文》：“強，蚚也。从虫，弘聲。，籀文強，从从彊。”

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)

牽 qiān drag Traditional

Depicts a person (人) leading an ox (牛) by the nose (自). The 人 and 自 components were later corrupted into phonetic 玄.

Components

玄
玄 Sound component
xuán, xuàn black
自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

Depicts a nose.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 自 than it was in ancient scripts.
牛
牛 Iconic component
niú cow

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

縴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

縴

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhen[k]ʰˤi[n] pull, lead, drag

說文解字

《說文》：“牽，引前也。从牛，象引牛之縻也，玄聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.93-94林志強《《文源》評注》p.312
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

強 qiáng, qiǎng strong Traditional

Phonosemantic component. 弓 represents the meaning and 畺 represents the sound. Originally written as 彊.

Components

弓
弓 Meaning component
gōng bow
畺
畺 SoundRemnant component
jiāng, jiàng boundary
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 畺 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡaŋ
ɡaŋʔ
Unicodeghiɑng
ghiǎng

說文解字

《說文》：“強，蚚也。从虫，弘聲。，籀文強，从从彊。”

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)