牺牲
xī​shēng HSK6

sacrifice

牺 xī sacrifice Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 西 represents the sound. Simplified form of 犧.

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
西
西 Sound component
xi, xī west

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

牲 shēng sacrificial animal

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsreŋ
Unicodeshræng

說文解字

牛完全。从牛生聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

犧 xī sacrifice Traditional

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow

ox

羲
羲 Sound component
xī ancient emperor

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjeŋ̊ (r)a[j]sacrificial animal
Zhengzhanghŋral
Unicodexyɛ

說文解字

宗廟之牲也。从牛羲聲。賈侍中說：此非古字。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)