zhēng​fá

punitive expedition

zhēng journey

Originally written as . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. In simplified Chinese is also used to mean "invade", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character .

Components

Meaning component
chì, fú walk

is a component form of .

SoundIconic component
zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct

Depicts a foot walking towards a city.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyengteŋ to correct; to go on a punitive expedition

說文解字

《說文》:“,正行也。从辵,正聲。征,或从彳。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.121
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

cut down

Original meaning: to behead someone

Depicts a weapon () slashing a person's () neck. Based on the original meaning "to behead someone". The meaning later shifted to "to attack" and "cut down".

Components

Iconic component
rén person
Iconic component
spear

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 Early Warring States ~400 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
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 (0 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjotm-pat cut; strike; attack

說文解字

《說文》:“伐,擊也。从人持戈。一曰敗也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica