yuán​zī​liào

metadata

yuán first

Pictograph of a person with a line added at the head area, representing the meaning "head" or "first".

Character Evolution

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjwon[ŋ]o[r] (< nasal + uvular)head; first

說文解字

《說文》:“元,始也。从一,从兀。”

Sources

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

property Simplified

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

Components

Sound component
second, next
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

liào ingredients

Depicts a ladle () full of rice ().

Components

Iconic component
rice
Iconic component
dòu ladle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlewH[r]ˤew-s measure (v.)

說文解字

《說文》:“料,量也。从斗,米在其中。”

Sources

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

property Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
second, next
Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsij[ts]ij property, means of living

說文解字

《說文》:“資,貨也。从貝,次聲。”

Sources

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