Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed
Pictograph of a person whose face has been tattooed, now written as 墨. In ancient China criminals were punished by having their faces permanently marked. Later writers reanalyzed the character as a chimney being blackened by fire, so the bottom component was written to look like 炎 (flame).
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | xok | m̥ˤək (dialect *m̥ˤ- > xˤ-) | black |
說文解字
《說文》：“黑，火所熏之色也。从炎上出囦。囦古字。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.760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)
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kaewng | kˤroŋ | (Yangzi) river |
說文解字
《說文》：“江，水。出蜀湔氐徼外崏山，入海。从水，工聲。”
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)
Traditional
Pictograph of a dragon curled up.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ljowng | [mə]-roŋ | dragon |
| maewng | mˤroŋ | variegated |
說文解字
《說文》：“龍，鱗蟲之長。能幽能明，能細能巨，能短能長，春分而登天，秋分而潛淵。从肉，飛之形，童省聲。”
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)