避实就虚
bì​shí​jiù​xū

circumventing strengths

避 bì avoid

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 辟 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

辟
辟 Sound component
pì, bì law

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjieH[b]ek-s avoid

說文解字

《說文》：“避，回也。从辵，辟聲。”

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)

实 shí, shi real Simplified

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Simplified form of 實. Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true". The 貫 component was changed to 头 for simplification.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
头
头 Simplified component
tóu, tou head

Shorthand for the 貫 component in the traditional character 實.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

就 jiù just，then

Original meaning: high place

Phonosemantic compound. 京 represents the meaning and 尤 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "high place". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "achieve".

Components

京
京 Meaning component
jīng capital city
Change in meaning
京 hints at the original meaning of 就, "high place", which is no longer the most common meaning of 就 in modern Mandarin.
尤
尤 Sound component
yóu especially

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 3 verified)

鹫僦鷲

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

蹴

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzjuwH[dz]u[k]-s go to

說文解字

《說文》：“就，就高也。从京，从尤。尤，異於凡也。，籀文就。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.454
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

虚 xū void, false Simplified

Simplified form of 虛. Phonosemantic compound. 虍 represents the sound and 丘 represents the meaning.

Components

虍
虍 Sound component
hū tiger
业
业 Simplified component
yè profession

Shorthand for the 丘 component in the traditional character 虛.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

墟嘘觑魖歔覷

Sources

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

實 shí, shi real Traditional

Original meaning: rich; plentiful

Depicts a string of money (貫) under a roof (宀). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
貫
貫 Meaning component
guàn a string of 1000 coins

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzyitmə.li[t] fruit; full

說文解字

《說文》：“實，富也。从宀，从貫。貫，貨貝也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.593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)

虛 xū void, false Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 虍 represents the sound and 丘 represents the meaning.

Components

虍
虍 Sound component
hū tiger
丘
丘 Meaning component
qiū hill
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丘 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

噓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjoC.qʰ(r)a hill, mound; abandoned city
xjoqʰ(r)a empty

說文解字

《說文》：“虛，大丘也。崐崘丘謂之崐崘虛，古者九夫為井，四井為邑，四邑為丘，丘謂之虛。从丘，虍聲。”

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)