禅让
shàn​ràng

abdicate

禅 chán, shàn, tán meditation Simplified

To pray 礻 alone 单; 单 also provides the pronunciation

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show
单
单 SoundMeaning component
dān single

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

让 ràng allow Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 上 represents the sound. Simplified form of 讓.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

上
上 SoundSimplified component
shàng, shang up

Sources

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

禪 meditation Traditional

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show
單
單 Sound component
dān single

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyenH[d]ar-s hand over to another

說文解字

《說文》：“禪，祭天也。从示，單聲。”

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)

讓 ràng allow Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 襄 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
襄
襄 Sound component
xiāng aid

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyangHnaŋ-s yield

說文解字

《說文》：“讓，相責讓。从言，襄聲。”

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)