精卫
Jīng​wèi

mythological bird

精 jīng essence

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound.

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
青
青 Sound component
qīng green or blue

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
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjengtseŋ fine rice; pure

說文解字

《說文》：“精，擇也。从米，青聲。”

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)

卫 wèi guard Simplified

Simplified from 衛. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 韋 represents the sound. The 行 component was deleted for simplification.

Components

韋
韋 SoundRemnant component
(surround a city), tanned leather

Remnant of 韋, the sound component in 衛.

衛
行 MeaningDeleted component
xíng, háng walk

Sources

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

衛 wèi guard Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 韋 represents the sound.

Components

行
行 Meaning component
xíng, háng walk
韋
韋 SoundIconic component
(surround a city), tanned leather

Depicts feet walking around city walls.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjwejH[ɢ]ʷ(r)a[t]-s to guard

說文解字

《說文》：“衞，宿衞也。从韋、帀，从行。行，列衞也。”

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)