趋炎附势
qū​yán​fù​shì

curry favor

趋 qū hasten, approach Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 刍 represents the sound. Simplified form of 趨.

Components

走
走 Meaning component
zǒu walk
刍
刍 Sound component
chú, zōu mow, cut grass

Sources

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

炎 yán flame

Combination of two fires (火).

Components

火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire
火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 12 verified)

谈淡毯痰氮琰郯啖锬剡談赕

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

琰欻燅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjem[ɢ]ʷ(r)am burn, blazing

說文解字

《說文》：“炎，火光上也。从重火。”

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)

附 fù attach, be near

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 付 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

付
付 Sound component
fù, fu pay, hand over

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-SagartbjuHN-p(r)oʔ-s be attached to

說文解字

附𡝤，小土山也。从𨸏付聲。《春秋傳》曰：“附𡝤無松栢。”

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)

势 shì, shi power Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 执 represents the sound. Simplified form of 勢.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
执
执 Sound component
zhí hold in hand

Sources

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

趨 qū hasten, approach Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 走 represents the meaning and 芻 represents the sound.

Components

走
走 Meaning component
zǒu walk
芻
芻 Sound component
mow, cut grass

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrhju[ts]ʰro hasten

說文解字

《說文》：“趨，走也。从走，芻聲。”

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)

勢 shì, shi power Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 埶 represents the sound.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
埶
埶 Sound component
yì, shì art, skill
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyejHŋ̊et-s circumstances, setting

說文解字

《說文新附》：“勢，盛力，權也。从力，埶聲。”

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)