破釜沉舟
pò​fǔ​chén​zhōu

burn one's boats

破 pò break

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 皮 represents the sound.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
皮
皮 Sound component
pí skin
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphaHpʰˤaj-s break (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“破，石碎也。从石，皮聲。”

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)

釜 fǔ cauldron

Phonosemantic compound. 金 represents the meaning and 父 represents the sound.

Components

金
金 Meaning component
jīn metal
父
父 Sound component
fù father

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Jin 266-420 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbaʔ
Unicodebhiǒ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

沉 chén, chēn sink

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 冘 represents the sound. Variant of 沈.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

冘
冘 Sound component
yín, yóu to move on

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'um
Unicodedjhim

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

舟 zhōu boat

Pictograph of a boat.

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (5 of 34 verified)

船航舰艇艘舱舶舵舷俞舫艄舸舻舢艉艏舨舾艚艟舯舳艨舴舭艋舡舲艦舣艎艙艅

Iconic (2)

受朕

Sound (1)

受

Simplified (1)

盘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyuwtu boat

說文解字

《說文》：“舟，船也。古者共鼓、貨狄刳木為舟，剡木為楫，以濟不通。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.682-683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)