Depicts the leaves of a mulberry tree (木). The leaves from a mulberry tree were the food silkworms would eat.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sang | [s]ˤaŋ | mulberry tree |
說文解字
《說文》:“桑,蠶所食葉木。从叒、木。”
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)
Pictograph of an axe head, used as a symbol of the king's military authority.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | hjwang | ɢʷaŋ | king |
| hjwangH | ɢʷaŋ-s | be king |
說文解字
《說文》:“王,天下所歸往也。董仲舒曰:‘古之造文者,三畫而連其中謂之王。三者,天、地、人也;而參通之者,王也。’孔子曰:‘一貫三為王。’,古文王。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.52
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: early morning
Depicts the early part of morning when the sun (日) can still be seen on the horizon between blades of grass (艸), and the moon (月) is still in the sky. Based on the original meaning "early morning". The meaning later shifted to "morning audience at court", "facing", "royal court", and "dynasty".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | drjew | m-t<r>aw | (morning) audience at court |
| trjew | t<r>aw | morning |
說文解字
《說文》:“朝,旦也。从倝,舟聲。”
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)
Traditional
Components
Historical Pronunciations
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | saːd |
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang