yī​dì​yī​shēng

answering each other

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

hand over Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

is a component form of .

Sound component
dì, di younger brother

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

shēng, sheng sound Simplified

Remnant of the character (stone chimes). Depicts a musical stone chime hung up on a rope. Simplified form of .

Components

Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts a rope. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
shí stone
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Iconic (2)

Sources

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

hand over Traditional

Components

Meaning component
chuò walk

walk

Sound component
sī, xī, tí an amphibious beast resembling a tiger with one horn

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdejXlˤeʔalternate
Zhengzhangl'eːʔ
l'eːs
Unicodedhěi
dhèi

說文解字

更易也。从辵虒聲。

Sources

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

shēng, sheng sound Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
ěr ear
Sound component
qìng, kēng, shēng stone chimes
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyeng[l̥]eŋ sound (n.)

說文解字

《說文》:“聲,音也。从耳,殸聲。殸,籀文磬。”

Sources

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