祸福吉凶
huò​fú​jí​xiōng

fortune

祸 huò misfortune Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 呙 represents the sound. Simplified form of 禍.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

spirit

呙
呙 Sound component
guō, wāi, hé chat

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

福 fú happiness

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 畐 represents the sound.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

畐
畐 Sound component
fú, bì to fill

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwkpək blessing

說文解字

《說文》：“福，祐也。从示，畐聲。”

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)

吉 jí lucky

Original meaning: solid, difficult to break

Depicts a hook-shaped weapon made out of copper. Based on the original meaning "solid, difficult to break". The meaning later shifted to "good" and "lucky".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a hook-shaped weapon made out of copper.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

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
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 17 verified)

结洁桔诘颉秸髻黠拮結咭佶鲒詰喆頡劼

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

喆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjitC.qi[t] (*C.q- > *k-, escaping palatalization)auspicious

說文解字

《說文》：“吉，善也。从士、口。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.98-99漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.93-94
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

凶 xiōng vicious, fierce

Pictograph of a trap in the ground.

Character Evolution

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 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 (2 of 4 verified)

匈汹垴兇

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

酗

Iconic (1)

兇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjowngqʰ(r)oŋ unlucky

說文解字

《說文》：“凶，惡也。象地穿交陷其中也。”

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)

禍 huò misfortune Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 咼 represents the sound.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

咼
咼 Sound component
chat

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwaX[g]ʷˤajʔ calamity

說文解字

《說文》：“禍，害也，神不福也。从示，咼聲。”

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)