jade

Pictograph of a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string. A dot was later added to to distinguish it from (king).

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string.

zhǔ dot

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Iconic (3)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjowk[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?) jade

說文解字

《說文》:“玉,石之美。有五德:潤澤以溫,仁之方也;理自外,可以知中,義之方也;其聲舒揚,專以遠聞,智之方也;不橈而折,勇之方也;銳廉而不技,絜之方也。象三玉之連,丨,其貫也。,古文玉。”

Sources

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

shù tree Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
tree
Simplified component
duì correct

Shorthand for the phonetic (shù) component in the traditional character .

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

zhōu state, province, islet

Depicts an area of dry land in the middle of a river.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyuwtu islet in stream; province

說文解字

《說文》:“州,水中可居曰州。周遶其旁,从重川。昔堯遭洪水,民居水中高土,或曰九州。《詩》曰:‘在河之州’。一曰:州,疇也。各疇其土而生之。,古文州。”

Sources

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

shù tree Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
shù, zhù standing (something) up

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
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyuXm-toʔ plant (v.); place upright
dzyuHm-toʔ-s tree

說文解字

《說文》:“樹,生植之緫名。从木,尌聲。尌,籀文。”

Sources

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