薛宝钗
Xuē Bǎo​chāi

Xue Baochai

薛 xuē kind of marsh grass

A kind of bitter 辛 grass 艹

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
丿
丿 Meaning component
piě, yì line
㠯
㠯 Meaning component
yǐ by means of
辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 (0 of 2 verified)

孽蘖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjets.ŋatspec. of plant; (place name)
Zhengzhangsŋed

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

宝 bǎo treasure Simplified

Simplified form of 寶. Depicts an assortment of valuable things, such as jade (玉), being stored safely under a roof (宀).

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
玉
玉 Iconic component
yù jade

Sources

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

钗 chāi, chā ornamental hairpin Simplified

A metal 钅 fork 叉; 叉 also provides the pronunciation

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
叉
叉 SoundMeaning component
chā, chá, chǎ fork, prong

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

寶 bǎo treasure Traditional

Depicts an assortment of valuable things, including jade (玉) and shells (貝), being stored safely under a roof (宀). The 缶 component represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
𤣩
𤣩 Iconic component
yù jade

𤣩 is a component form of 玉.

缶
缶 Sound component
fǒu pottery
貝
貝 Iconic component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpawXpˤuʔ precious thing

說文解字

《說文》：“寶，珍也。从宀，从王，从貝，缶聲。寚，古文寶省貝。”

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)

釵 ornamental hairpin Traditional

A metal 釒 fork 叉; 叉 also provides the pronunciation

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
叉
叉 SoundMeaning component
chā, chá, chǎ fork, prong

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰreːl
Unicodechrɛi

說文解字

笄屬。从金叉聲。本只作叉，此字後人所加。

Sources

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