尊师贵道
zūn​shī​guì​dào

venerating teachers

尊 zūn respect

Depicts a hand (寸) offering a container of wine (酋).

Components

酋
酋 Iconic component
qiú chief of tribe

Depicts a container of wine.

寸
寸 SoundIconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 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 (1 of 6 verified)

遵蹲樽鳟撙鱒

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

遵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttswon[ts]ˤu[n] honor (v.)
tswon[ts]ˤu[n] wine-cup

說文解字

《說文》：“，酒器也。从酋，廾以奉之。《周禮》六尊：犧尊、象尊、著尊、壺尊、太尊、山尊，以待祭祀賓客之禮。尊，或从寸。”

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)

师 shī teacher Simplified

Simplified form of 師. 𠂤 and 帀 both represent the sound.

Components

刂
刂 Simplified component
dāo knife

Shorthand for the 𠂤 component in the traditional character 師.

帀
帀 Sound component
zā to go round

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

狮筛蛳浉

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.500-501
Readings & variants
Unicode

贵 guì expensive Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 㬰 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貴.

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

遗溃馈匮篑聩愦缋蒉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

馈

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode

道 dào, dao path

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 首 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

首
首 Sound component
shǒu head
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 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 (1)

導

Meaning (1)

導

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawHlˤuʔ-s show the way
dawX[kə.l]ˤuʔ way

說文解字

所行道也。从辵从𩠐。一達謂之道。

Sources

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

師 shī teacher Traditional

𠂤 and 帀 both represent the sound.

Components

𠂤
𠂤 Sound component
duī mound
Change in sound
帀
帀 Sound component
zā to go round
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (3)

官遣𠳋

Remnant (3)

官遣𠳋

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

篩螄獅

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrijsrij army
srijsrij master

說文解字

《說文》：“師，二千五百人為師。从帀，从。，四帀眾意也。，古文師。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.500-501
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

貴 guì expensive Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 㬰 represents the sound.

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

遺饋聵匱潰蕢簣

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

饋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjw+jHkuj-s precious; expensive

說文解字

《說文》：“，物不賤也。从貝，臾聲。臾，古文蕢。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)