京华时报
Jīng​huá Shí​bào

Beijing Times

京 jīng capital city

Original meaning: high place

Pictograph of a tall building. Similar to 高. Based on the original meaning "high place". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "capital city".

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (8 of 17 verified)

惊景亮凉掠谅琼鲸晾椋黥辌諒鯨輬涼倞

Iconic (3)

高亮亭

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

就倞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjaeng[k]raŋ hill; capital city

說文解字

《說文》：“京，人所為絕高丘也。从高省，丨象高形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.453
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

华 huá magnificent Simplified

Simplified form of 華. 化 is used here to represent the sound. The bottom component is a remnant from the traditional character 華.

Components

化
化 Sound component
huà change
華
華 SimplifiedRemnant component
huá magnificent

Remnant from the bottom of the traditional character 華.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

哗桦烨骅铧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

晔烨

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.554-555
Readings & variants
Unicode

时 shí time Simplified

Simplified form of 時.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
寸
寸 Simplified component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Shorthand for the 寺 component in the traditional character 時.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

鲥莳埘

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

报 bào report Simplified

Original meaning: punish

Simplified form of 報. Depicts a person being subdued (𠬝) by shackles (㚔). Based on the original meaning "punish". The meaning later shifted to "revenge", "recompense", "report", and "announce".

Components

扌
扌 Simplified component
shou, shǒu hand

Shorthand for the 㚔 component in the traditional character 報.

𠬝
𠬝 Iconic component
fú subdue

Sources

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

華 huá magnificent Traditional

Original meaning: flower

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 𠌶 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flower", now written as 花. The meaning later shifted to "blossoming", "flourishing" and "magnificent".

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

𠌶
𠌶 SoundMeaning component
huā flower

Pictograph of a fully bloomed flower.

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

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 3 verified)

驊樺嘩

Simplified (1)

华

Remnant (1)

华

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

曄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwaeqʷʰˤra flower (n.)
hwaeN-qʷʰˤra flower (v.); flowery (adj.)
hwaeH[ɢ]ʷˤra-s [name of a mountain]

說文解字

榮也。从艸从𠌶。凡華之屬皆从華。

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.554-555
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

時 shí time Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

蒔鰣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyi[d]ə
(~ *[d]əʔ)		time

說文解字

《說文》：“時，四時也。从日，寺聲。旹，古文時，从之、日。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

報 bào report Traditional

Original meaning: punish

Depicts a person being subdued (𠬝) by shackles (㚔). Based on the original meaning "punish". The meaning later shifted to "revenge", "recompense", "report", and "announce".

Components

㚔
㚔 Iconic component
niè, xìng instrument of torture used in ancient times
𠬝
𠬝 Iconic component
fú subdue

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpawHpˤuk-s repay

說文解字

《說文》：“報，當罪人也。从，从。，服罪也。”

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)