鲲鹏展翅
kūn​péng​zhǎn​chì

grand ambition

鲲 kūn spawn Simplified

Components

鱼
鱼 Meaning component
yú fish

fish

昆
昆 Sound component
kūn elder brother

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鹏 péng, fèng fabulous bird of enormous size Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 朋 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鵬.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
朋
朋 Sound component
péng friend

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

展 zhǎn, zhan open

Original meaning: roll over

Phonosemantic compound. 尸 represents the meaning and 𧝑 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "roll over". The meaning later shifted to "unfold", "spread out", and "develop".

Components

尸
尸 Meaning component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person sitting or squatting.

𧝑
𧝑 SoundRemnant component
zhàn royal silk clothing

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

辗碾輾冁搌囅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjenXtrenʔ roll over; unfold
trjenHtra[n]-s ritual robe

說文解字

《說文》：“展，轉也。从尸，省聲。”

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)

翅 chì wings

Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 支 represents the sound. Simplified form of 翄.

Components

羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather
支
支 Sound component
zhī support, hold up

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyeHs-kʰe-swing
Zhengzhangqʰjes
Unicodeshiə̌

Sources

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

鯤 spawn Traditional

Components

魚
魚 Meaning component
yú fish

fish

昆
昆 Sound component
kūn elder brother

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkuːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

鵬 fabulous bird of enormous size Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 朋 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
朋
朋 Sound component
péng friend

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
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbɯːŋ
Unicodebhəng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica