岳阳楼
Yuè​yáng Lóu

Yueyang Tower

岳 yuè mountain peak

A mountain 山 range surrounded by hills 丘

Components

丘
丘 Meaning component
qiū hill
山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Eastern Han 25-220 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngæwk[ŋ]ˤrokmountain, peak
Zhengzhangŋroːɡ
Unicodengak

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

阳 yáng light Simplified

The traditional characters 陰 (Yin) and 陽 (Yang) were simplified to 阴 and 阳. In Chinese philosophy, the moon (月) corresponds to Yin (阴) and the sun (日) corresponds to Yang (阳).

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

日
日 Simplified component
rì sun

Simplified from the traditional 陽. Used here since the sun corresponds to the 'Yang' of 'Yin and Yang' in Chinese philosophy.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

楼 lóu building of two or more stories Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 娄 represents the sound. Simplified form of 樓.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
娄
娄 Sound component
lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

陽 yáng light Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

昜
昜 SoundMeaning component
yáng bright

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyanglaŋ bright

說文解字

高、明也。从𨸏昜聲。

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)

樓 lóu building of two or more stories Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 婁 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
婁
婁 Sound component
surname

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·roː
Unicodelou

說文解字

《說文》：“樓，重屋也。从木，婁聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)