xū​zhī

instructions

must Simplified

Original meaning: beard

Pictograph of a person with a bearded face. Simplified form of . The meaning "must" is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
shān, xiǎn hair
Iconic component
page

Depicts a head.

Sources

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

zhī know

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Transfer of knowledge is done through speech.

Sound component
shǐ arrow

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (1 of 5 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttrjetre know

說文解字

《說文》:“知,詞也。从口,从矢。”

Sources

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

must Traditional

Original meaning: beard

Pictograph of a person with a bearded face. Based on the original meaning "beard", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
shān, xiǎn hair
Iconic component
(head), page

Depicts a head.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjuC-[s.n]o beard
sju[s]o 斯須 a short time

說文解字

《說文》:“須,面毛也。从頁,从彡。”

Sources

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