自由贸易区
zì​yóu​mào​yì​qū

free trade zone

自 zì (nose), self

Original meaning: nose

Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (5)

息鼻牵牽𰄩

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

瘪憩洎邊癟

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

咱臭戛辠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzijHs.[b]i[t]-s self (adv.)
dzijHs.[b]i[t]-s to follow; from

說文解字

《說文》：“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.272
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

由 yóu cause

Original meaning: helmet

Depicts a kind of helmet worn by warriors. Based on the original meaning "helmet", now written as 胄. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 18 verified)

油抽宙迪邮袖轴釉铀胄柚岫妯鼬蚰舳軸鈾

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

笛冑

Simplified (1)

庙

Iconic (1)

胄

Unknown (1)

甹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyuwl[u] follow; from

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.587
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

贸 mào trade Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 卯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貿.

Components

卯
卯 Sound component
mǎo 4th terrestrial branch
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Sources

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

易 yì easy

Original meaning: to bestow, give

Upside-down version of 益, depicting food or drink being poured from a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "to bestow, give", now written as 賜. The meaning later shifted to "exchange", "change", and "easy".

Components

皿
皿 Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a vessel for holding food or drink.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 皿 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts food or drink being poured from a container.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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 11 verified)

锡赐踢惕剔蜴裼埸錫賜鬄

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

裼鬄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyeHlek-s easy
yeklek change; exchange

說文解字

《說文》：“易，蜥易，蝘蜓，守宮也。象形。《秘書》說，日月為易，象陰陽也。一曰从勿。”

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)

区 qū area Simplified

Simplified form of 區. Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚
匚 Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品
品 IconicSimplified component
pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 14 verified)

欧驱躯枢呕殴鸥岖抠讴沤瓯怄眍

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

妪奁伛

Sources

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

貿 mào trade Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 卯 represents the sound.

Components

卯
卯 Sound component
mǎo 4th terrestrial branch
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwHmru-s barter (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“貿，易財也。从貝，丣聲。”

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)

區 qū area Traditional

Depicts a group of things (品) in an enclosed area.

Components

匚
匚 Iconic component
fāng, fàng box

Depicts an enclosed area.

品
品 Iconic component
pǐn product

Depicts a group of things.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 15 verified)

驅軀嘔慪甌嶇歐鷗毆熰樞漚謳摳瞘

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

嫗奩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'uwqˤ(r)o (a measure)

說文解字

《說文》：“區，踦區，藏匿也。从品在匸中。品，眾也。”

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)