táo​zhài

evade debt

táo escape

Originally written as , a pictograph of two people escaping a flood. The (walk) component was added later to clarify the meaning.

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

SoundIconic component
zhào omen

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdawlˤaw flee

說文解字

《說文》:“逃,亡也。从辵,兆聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

zhài debt Simplified

A person's  duty  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
rén person
SoundMeaning component
responsibility

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

zhài debt Traditional

A person's  duty  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
rén person
SoundMeaning component
responsibility

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsrɛHs-tˤrek-sdebt
Zhengzhangʔsreːɡs
ʔsreːɡ
Unicodejrɛi

說文解字

債負也。从人、責,責亦聲。

Sources

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