往脸上抹黑
wǎng​liǎn​shàng​mǒ​hēi

disgrace

往 wǎng, wàng go

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 and 止 represent the meaning, and 王 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

止
止 Meaning component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot. Abbreviated to a single stroke in the modern form.

王
王 Sound component
wáng king

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 (1)

狂

Remnant (1)

狂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjwangXɢʷaŋʔ go to

說文解字

《說文》：“往，之也。从彳，聲。，古文从辵。”

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)

脸 liǎn face Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 臉.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

佥
佥 Sound component
qiān together

Sources

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

上 shàng, shang up

Originally a small line or dot above a longer line, indicating "up". The vertical line was added to distinguish the character from 二 (two). Opposite of 下.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

云忐尗

Sound (1)

让

Simplified (1)

让

Iconic (1)

卡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyangXCə-daŋʔ ascend
dzyangXm-daŋʔ to put up
dzyangHdaŋʔ-s top, above (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“丄，高也。此古文上，指事也。上，篆文丄。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.44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)

抹 mǒ, mā smear

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 末 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

末
末 Sound component
mò end

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmaːd
Unicodemɑt

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

黑 hēi black

Original meaning: tattoo the face for a crime committed

Pictograph of a person whose face has been tattooed, now written as 墨. In ancient China criminals were punished by having their faces permanently marked. Later writers reanalyzed the character as a chimney being blackened by fire, so the bottom component was written to look like 炎 (flame).

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 of 14 verified)

黛黯黝黔黜黠點黢黧黥黟黨黴黪

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

默墨嘿黩黷

Iconic (2)

墨𦰩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxokm̥ˤək (dialect *m̥ˤ- > xˤ-)black

說文解字

《說文》：“黑，火所熏之色也。从炎上出囦。囦古字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.760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)

臉 liǎn face Traditional

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

僉
僉 Sound component
together

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·reːmʔ
skʰlam
kramʔ
Unicodelæ̌m

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang