绵里藏针
mián​lǐ​cáng​zhēn

hidden sharpness

绵 mián cotton wad Simplified

A continuous thread 纟 of silk 帛

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk
帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

里 lǐ, li village Simplified

A village (里) is an area of land (土) where people have fields (田). In simplified Chinese 里 is also used to mean "inside", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 裡.

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 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 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 (5 of 17 verified)

理埋哩厘狸鲤俚锂娌裡悝釐陧裏貍鋰鯉

Iconic (0 of 1 verified)

廛

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

㢆

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliX(mə.)rəʔ li (measure of distance); village

說文解字

《說文》：“里，居也。从田，从土。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.913
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

藏 cáng hide

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 臧 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

臧
臧 Sound component
zāng, cáng, zàng good

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

臟

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzangm-tsʰˤaŋ store (v.)
dzangHm-tsʰˤaŋ-s store, repository (n.)

說文解字

《說文新附》：“藏，匿也。”

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)

针 zhēn needle Simplified

Simplified form of 針. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

十
十 Sound component
shí ten
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

綿 mián cotton wad Traditional

A continuous thread 糹 of silk 帛

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk
帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmen
Unicodemiɛn

Sources

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

裡 li, lǐ inside Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.

Components

衤
衤 Meaning component
yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

里
里 Sound component
lǐ, li village

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliXm.rəʔinside
Zhengzhangrɯʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

針 zhēn needle Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
十
十 Sound component
shí ten
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyimt.[k]əm needle

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart