兵力
bīng​lì

troops

兵 bīng soldier

Pictograph of two hands (廾) holding a weapon.

Components

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Depicts a weapon.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Depicts two hands.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

宾乒乓浜

Remnant (2)

乒乓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjaengpraŋ weapon

說文解字

《說文》：“，械也。从廾持斤，并力之皃。，古文兵从人、廾、干。兵，籀文。”

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)

力 lì, li power

Pictograph of a plow, which requires strength to operate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (24 of 47 verified)

动加务办功势男助劳努勇劲励勃劝勤幼劫勉勋勘募劾饬夯勖劭劬勐劢辦飭勞劦勢務勛勦勸勵劼劵勝勁勈動勳

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

历勒励劣肋仂阞勵艻

Simplified (3 of 5 verified)

边伤穷胁虏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlikk.rək strength

說文解字

《說文》：“力，筋也。象人筋之形。治功曰力，能圉大災。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.918-919
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)