力挽狂澜
lì​wǎn​kuáng​lán

turn the tide

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)

挽 wǎn to pull

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 免 represents the sound. Simplified form of 輓.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

免
免 Sound component
miǎn (hat), avoid

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmonʔ
Unicodemiæ̌n

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

狂 kuáng insane, mad

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 往 represents the sound.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

往
往 SoundRemnant component
wǎng, wàng go

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

逛诳誑

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

诳誑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjwang[k-ɢʷ]aŋ mad, reckless

說文解字

《說文》：“狂，狾犬也。从犬，聲。忹，古文从心。”

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)

澜 lán overflowing Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 阑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 瀾.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

阑
阑 Sound component
lán, làn door screen

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

瀾 overflowing Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 闌 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

闌
闌 Sound component
door screen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlanX[r]ˤanʔwater in which rice has been washed
Zhengzhangɡ·raːn
ɡ·raːns
Unicodelɑn
lɑ̀n

說文解字

大波爲瀾。从水闌聲。

Sources

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