yī​tán​zhǐ​qǐng

instant

one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

Unknown (2)

Distinguishing (1)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jitʔi[t] one

說文解字

《說文》:“一,惟初太始,道立於一,造分天地,化成萬物。弌,古文一。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

dàn, tán, tan bullet, pellet Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
gōng bow
Sound component
dān single

Sources

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

zhǐ, zhí, zhī finger

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

Sound component
zhǐ purpose

Character Evolution

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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyijXmə.kijʔ finger; point

說文解字

《說文》:“指,手指也。从手,旨聲。”

Sources

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

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Simplified

Original meaning: to have an inclined head

Simplified form of . Depicts a person () with their head () tilted or askew. Based on the original meaning "to have an inclined head", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a person.

Iconic component
page

Depicts a tilted head.

Component uses

Sound (1)

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2133
Readings & variants
Unicode

dàn, tán, tan bullet, pellet Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
gōng bow
Sound component
dān single

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdanH[d]ˤar-s pellet
danCə.dˤar shoot pellets
dan[d]ˤar shoot pellets

說文解字

《說文》:“彈,行丸也。从弓,單聲。,或从弓持丸。”

Sources

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

qǐng a measure of area equal to 100 畝 (mu) ~ 6.7 hectares Traditional

Original meaning: to have an inclined head

Depicts a person () with their head () tilted or askew. Based on the original meaning "to have an inclined head", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
bǐ, pìn spoon, (person)

Depicts a person.

Iconic component
(head), page

Depicts a tilted head.


Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjwiengX[k]ʷʰeŋʔ interval, short while

說文解字

《說文》:“頃,頭不正也。从匕,从頁。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2133
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica