重责
zhòng​zé

heavy responsibility

重 zhòng, chóng heavy

Pictograph of a person (亻) carrying a heavy basket (東) on their back.

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

東
東 SoundIconic component
dōng east

Depicts a basket.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 (6 of 8 verified)

董踵锺種腫衝鍾動

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

腫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjowng[m]-troŋ repeat; double
drjowngXN-t<r>oŋʔ heavy
drjowngHN-t<r>oŋʔ-s weight (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“重，厚也。从壬，東聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.657-658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)

责 zé responsibility Simplified

Original meaning: taxation

Simplified form of 責. Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 责, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 责 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

债绩啧渍碛赜帻箦

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

债

Sources

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

責 zé responsibility Traditional

Original meaning: taxation

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 責, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 責 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

積蹟績嘖債漬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

債

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsreaks-tˤrek demand payment
tsreaks-tˤrek blame
tsreaHs-tˤrek-s debt

說文解字

《說文》：“責，求也。从貝，朿聲。”

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)