匆
cōng HSK7

hastily

Variant form of 悤/囱, which depicts a line piercing an object. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰloːŋ
Unicodetsung

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.761zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

悤 cōng agitated Traditional

Original meaning: insightful

Depicts a line (囱) piercing a heart (心) (i.e. having an insightful understanding), conveying the meaning "insightful", now written as 聰. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

心
心 Iconic component
xīn, xin heart

In ancient China, it was thought that the heart was the center of thought and reasoning.

囱
囱 SoundIconic component
cōng chimney

Depicts a line piercing. Represents having an insightful understanding in one's thoughts.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

說文解字

《說文》:“悤,多遽悤悤也。从心、囪,囪亦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.762林志強《《文源》評注》p.36張世超《金文形義通解》p.2443-2444Ning Yu "Heart and Cognition in Ancient Chinese Philosophy"
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

怱 cōng hastily Traditional

Original meaning: insightful

Variant of 悤. Depicts a line (匆) piercing a heart (心) (i.e. having an insightful understanding), conveying the meaning "insightful". now written as 聰. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

匆
匆 SoundIconic component
cōng hastily

Depicts a line piercing. Represents having an insightful understanding in one's thoughts.

心
心 Iconic component
xīn, xin heart

In ancient China, it was thought that the heart was the center of thought and reasoning.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰloːŋ
Unicodetsung

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.762林志強《《文源》評注》p.36張世超《金文形義通解》p.2443-2444Ning Yu "Heart and Cognition in Ancient Chinese Philosophy"
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang