苟富贵，勿相忘
gǒu​fù​guì, wù​xiāng​wàng

loyalty in prosperity

苟 gǒu, gōu careless

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

句
句 Sound component
jù sentence

Character Evolution

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-SagartkuwX[k]ˤ(r)oʔif really
Zhengzhangkoːʔ

說文解字

艸也。从艸句聲。

Sources

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

富 fù abundant

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 畐 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
畐
畐 Sound component
fú, bì to fill

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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-SagartpjuwHpək-s rich; wealth

說文解字

《說文》：“富，備也。一曰厚也。从宀，畐聲。”

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)

贵 guì expensive Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 㬰 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貴.

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

遗溃馈匮篑聩愦缋蒉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

馈

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode

勿 wù, mò must not

Original meaning: cut throat

Depicts a knife (刀) cutting with drops of blood coming out, based on the original meaning "cut throat", now written as 刎. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

刀
刀 Iconic component
dāo knife
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts drops of blood.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

物忽吻笏囫刎芴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

犂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjutmut don't
mjutmut not ... it

說文解字

《說文》：“勿，州里所建旗。象其柄，有三游。雜帛，幅半異。所以趣民，故遽稱勿勿。，勿或从。”

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)

相 xiāng, xiàng mutual

Original meaning: look at

Depicts an eye (目) looking at a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "look at". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to "compare" and "each other".

Components

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
目
目 Iconic component
mù eye

Character Evolution

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

想箱湘厢霜缃葙廂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjang[s]aŋ mutually
sjangH[s]aŋ-s appearance, quality

說文解字

《說文》：“相，省視也。从目，从木。《易》曰：‘地可觀者莫可觀於木。’《詩》曰：‘相鼠有皮。’”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.267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)

忘 wàng forget

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 亡 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
亡
亡 Sound component
wáng death

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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-Sagartmjangmaŋ forget
mjangHmaŋ-s forget

說文解字

《說文》：“忘，不識也。从心，从亡，亡亦聲。”

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)

貴 guì expensive Traditional

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

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

遺饋聵匱潰蕢簣

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

饋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjw+jHkuj-s precious; expensive

說文解字

《說文》：“，物不賤也。从貝，臾聲。臾，古文蕢。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)