翻箱倒箧
fān​xiāng​dǎo​qiè

rummage

翻 fān flip over

Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 番 represents the sound.

Components

番
番 Sound component
fān to take turns
羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰan
Unicodepiæn

說文解字

《說文新附》：“翻，飛也。从羽，番聲。或从飛。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

箱 xiāng box

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 相 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

相
相 Sound component
xiāng, xiàng mutual

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjangC.[s]aŋ box (of a carriage)

說文解字

《說文》：“箱，大車牝服也。从竹，相聲。”

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)

倒 dào, dǎo fall over

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 到 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

到
到 Sound component
dào, dao go to

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawXtˤawʔ turn upside down (v.i.)
tawHtˤawʔ-s turn over, invert; pour

說文解字

《說文新附》：“倒，仆也。从人，到聲。”

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)

箧 qiè rattan box Simplified

A bamboo ⺮ box 匚; 夹 provides the pronunciation

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo
匚
匚 Meaning component
fāng, fàng box
夹
夹 Sound component
jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

篋 rattan box Traditional

A bamboo ⺮ chest 匧; 匧 also provides the pronunciation

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo
匧
匧 SoundMeaning component
qiè a trunk

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰeːb
Unicodekep

Sources

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