精神支柱
jīng​shén​zhī​zhù

mainstay

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)

神 shén, shen spirit

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

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

申
申 Sound component
shēn to extend

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzyinCə.li[n] spirit

說文解字

《說文》：“神，天神，引出萬物者也。从示、申。”

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)

支 zhī support, hold up

Pictograph of a hand (又) lifting a piece of bamboo (个).

Components

个
个 Iconic component
gè, ge, gě [measure word]

Depicts a piece of bamboo.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

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 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 (3 of 14 verified)

技枝翅歧肢妓吱岐庋屐芰豉忮跂

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

妓伎

Iconic (1)

鼓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyeke support, hold up
tsyeke branch (of tree), limb

說文解字

《說文》：“支，去竹之枝也。从手持半竹。，古文支。”

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)

柱 zhù pillar

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 主 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
主
主 Sound component
zhǔ master

Character Evolution

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-SagartdrjuXm-t<r>oʔpillar
Zhengzhangtoʔ
doʔ
Unicodedjhiǒ

說文解字

楹也。从木主聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)