zǒu​shòu

beast

zǒu walk

Originally written as , depicting a person swaying their arms () while walking quickly. The foot component was added later.

Components

Iconic component
yāo, wò, wāi die young

Depicts a person walking quickly.

Meaning component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

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 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
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 (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsuwX[ts]ˤoʔ run

說文解字

《說文》:“走,趨也。从夭、止,夭止者,屈也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.108漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shòu beast Simplified

Original meaning: to hunt

Depicts using a hunting tool () and a dog () to hunt for and capture wild animals. Original form of . was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "beast". The traditional component was deleted for simplification.

Components

dān single
kǒu, kou mouth
Deleted component
quǎn dog

The traditional component was deleted for simplification.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1270劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol. 14, p.393何琳儀《戰國古文字典:戰國文字聲系》p.218
Readings & variants
Unicode

shòu beast Traditional

Original meaning: to hunt

Depicts using a hunting tool () and a dog () to hunt for and capture wild animals. Original form of . was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "beast".

Components

Iconic component
dān single

Depicts a hunting tool.

kǒu, kou mouth
Iconic component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyuwHs.tʰu(ʔ)-s (wild) animal

說文解字

《說文》:“獸,守備者。从嘼,从犬。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1270劉志基《中國漢字文物大系》Vol. 14, p.393何琳儀《戰國古文字典:戰國文字聲系》p.218
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica