喜结连理
xǐ​jié​lián​lǐ

marry

喜 xǐ like, happy

Depicts making a joyful noise with a drum (壴) and one's mouth (口).

Components

壴
壴 Iconic component
zhù drum
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 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

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

禧嘻嬉熹僖蟢

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

禧嘻僖

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxiXqʰ(r)əʔ joy; rejoice

說文解字

《說文》：“喜，樂也。从壴，从口。歖，古文喜从欠，與歡同。”

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)

结 jié, jiē knot Simplified

Simplified form of 結. Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 吉 represents the sound.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

吉
吉 Sound component
jí lucky

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

连 lián connect, join, link Simplified

Depicts a carriage (车) being pulled by a person walking (辶). Simplified form of 連.

Components

车
车 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

莲链琏涟鲢裢梿

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

链

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

理 lǐ, li reason

Original meaning: cut jade

Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Meaning component
yù jade

𤣩 is a component form of 玉.

Change in meaning
𤣩 hints at the original meaning of 理, "cut jade", which is no longer the most common meaning of 理 in modern Mandarin.
里
里 Sound component
lǐ, li village

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartliXm(ə).rəʔ cut jade; regulate
liXm(ə).rəʔ reason; principle

說文解字

《說文》：“理，治玉也。从玉，里聲。”

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)

結 jié, jiē knot, tie Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 吉 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

吉
吉 Sound component
jí lucky

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartketkˤi[t] tie (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“結，締也。从糸，吉聲。”

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)

連 lián connect, join, link Traditional

Depicts a carriage (車) being pulled by a person walking (辶).

Components

車
車 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

蓮鏈褳漣槤鰱

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

鏈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljenC.ra[n] [surname]
ljen[r]a[n] connect in a row

說文解字

員連也。从辵从車。

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)