Pictograph of a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string. A dot was later added to 玉 to distinguish it from 王 (king).
Components
丶 Distinguishing component
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngjowk | [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
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Depicts a person (人) raising silkworms (虫). Refers to Can Cong (蠶叢), the legendary ruler of the kingdom of Shu (modern-day Sichuan), who was said to have been the inventor of silk.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyowk | [d]ok | caterpillar; Shu [place name] |
說文解字
《說文》：“蜀，葵中蠶也。从虫。上目象蜀頭形，中象其身蜎蜎。《詩》曰：‘蜎蜎者蜀。’”
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)
Pictograph of a stalk of proso millet with drooping ears. The 氺 (water) component was added later to possibly indicate that this specific type of grain is used to brew wine.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | syoX | s-tʰaʔ | Panicum miliaceum, glutinous |
說文解字
《說文》：“黍，禾屬而黏者也。以大暑而穜，故謂之黍。从禾，雨省聲。孔子曰：黍可為酒，禾入水也。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.578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)