冤有头，债有主 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

Chinese Character Wiki Wiki

，

yuānyǒutóu, zhàiyǒuzhǔ

direct resolution

yuān grievance

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	qon

說文解字

屈也。从兔从冂。兔在冂下，不得走，益屈折也。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yǒu have

Depicts a hand (又) holding meat (肉). In Oracle script this character was written the same as the phonetically similar 又, but later the 肉 component was added to distinguish them.

Components

又 Sound Iconic component

yòu hand

Change in form

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

肉 Iconic component

ròu meat

Deceptively similar but unrelated to the character for moon (月).

Change in form

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

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

郁囿宥鲔侑铕洧鮪迶

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	hjuwX	[ɢ]ʷəʔ	have, exist

說文解字

《說文》：“有，不宜有也。《春秋傳》曰：‘日月有食之。’从月，又聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.550
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

tóu, tou head Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound. The simplified character 头 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 頭.

Components

豆 Sound Simplified component

dòu bean

頁 Iconic Simplified component

yè (head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

Component uses

Simplified (2)

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zhài debt Simplified

A person's 亻 duty 责; 责 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

责 Sound Meaning component

zé responsibility

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

zhǔ master

Original meaning: deity

Pictograph of a memorial tablet used for spiritual rituals, similar to 示.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

住注驻柱蛀拄炷麈疰駐註

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyuX	toʔ	master; host

說文解字

《說文》：“主，鐙中火主也。从凵土，象形；从丶，丶亦聲。”

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)

tóu, tou head Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

Components

頁 Iconic component

yè (head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

豆 Sound component

dòu bean

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	duw	[m-t]ˤo	head

說文解字

《說文》：“頭，首也。从頁，豆聲。”

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)

zhài debt Traditional

A person's 亻 duty 責; 責 also provides the pronunciation

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

責 Sound Meaning component

zé responsibility

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsrɛH	s-tˤrek-s	debt
Zhengzhang		ʔsreːɡs
		ʔsreːɡ
Unicode	jrɛi

說文解字

債負也。从人、責，責亦聲。

Sources

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