卧薪尝胆
wò​xīn​cháng​dǎn

persevere

卧 wò lie down Simplified

Variant form of 臥. Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Current form looks like 卜.

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

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

薪 xīn firewood

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 新 represents the sound. Originally written as 新.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

新
新 Sound component
xīn new

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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-Sagartsin[s]i[n] firewood

說文解字

《說文》：“薪，蕘也。从艸，新聲。”

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)

尝 cháng taste Simplified

Simplified form of 嘗. Phonosemantic compound. 旨 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound.

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
云
云 Simplified component
yún clouds

Shorthand for the 旨 component in the traditional character 嘗.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

偿

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

胆 dǎn gall bladder Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 旦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 膽.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

旦
旦 Sound component
dàn dawn

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangdaːn
daːn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

臥 wò lie down Traditional

Depicts a person (人) with their eye (臣) leaning forward preparing to lie down and sleep.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component
chén minister

Depicts an eye.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngwaH[ŋ]ˤ[o]j-s lie down, sleep

說文解字

《說文》：“臥，休也。从人、臣，取其伏也。”

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)

嘗 cháng taste Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 旨 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound.

Components

尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem
旨
旨 Iconic component
zhǐ purpose

Depicts a spoon (匕) going into the mouth (口). The original meaning of 旨 was "fine-tasting".

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyangCə.daŋ taste (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“嘗，口味之也。从旨，尚聲。”

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)

膽 dǎn gall bladder Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 詹 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

詹
詹 Sound component
zhān, dàn talk too much

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttamX[t]ˤamʔgall
Zhengzhangtaːmʔ
Unicodedɑ̌m

說文解字

連肝之府。从肉詹聲。

Sources

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