yè​shǒu

header

page Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a head () on top of a person (). Means "head" when pronounced xié. Has unrelated meaning "leaf" when pronounced yè, due to this character being adopted as a variant form of .

Components

Iconic component
shǒu head
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Component uses

Iconic (5)

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

shǒu head

Pictograph of a head (hair above a face with an eye).

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (4)

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyuwXl̥uʔ head
syuwHl̥uʔ-s turn the head towards

說文解字

《說文》:“首,同,古文也。巛象髮,謂之鬊,鬊即巛也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.700
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

(head), page Traditional

Original meaning: head

Pictograph of a head () on top of a person (). Means "head" when pronounced xié. Has unrelated meaning "leaf" when pronounced yè, due to this character being adopted as a variant form of .

Components

Iconic component
shǒu head
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (1)

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangleb
ɡleːd

說文解字

《說文》:“頁,頭也。从,从儿。古文如此。者首字也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica