堯
yáo

legendary ancient emperor-sage

Original meaning: tall; lofty

Depicts a mound of dirt (土) on top of a platform (兀), representing the original meaning "tall; lofty", later used to describe the legendary Emperor Yao.

Components

土
土 Iconic component
tǔ earth
土
土 Iconic component
tǔ earth
土
土 Iconic component
tǔ earth
兀
兀 Iconic component
wù stand tall

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 13 verified)

翹繞蕘蟯饒橈撓蹺曉澆燒嬈僥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngew[ŋ]ˤew high

說文解字

《說文》：“堯，高也。从垚在兀上，高遠也。，古文堯。”

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)

尧 yáo a legendary ancient emperor-sage Simplified

Simplified form of 堯. Depicts a mound of dirt (土) on top of a platform (兀), representing the meaning "tall; lofty", later used to describe the legendary Emperor Yao.

Components

戈
戈 Simplified component
gē spear

Shorthand for the three 土 components in the traditional character 堯.

兀
兀 Iconic component
wù stand tall

Component uses

Sound (1 of 17 verified)

烧晓绕饶挠浇翘侥跷骁荛桡硗娆蛲哓铙

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode