wǒ​xíng​wǒ​sù

one's own way

I; me

Original meaning: weapon

Pictograph of a weapon with a forked blade and long handle. The meaning "I; me" is a phonetic loan.

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngaXŋˤajʔ we, I

說文解字

《說文》:“我,施身自謂也。或說我,頃頓也。从戈,从。,或說古垂字。一曰古殺字。,古文我。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.867
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xíng, háng walk

Depicts a street intersection.

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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (7 of 12 verified)

Sound (1 of 9 verified)

Deleted (2)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthang[g]ˤaŋ rank, row
haengCə.[g]ˤraŋ walk (v.)
haengH[g]ˤraŋ-s action

說文解字

《說文》:“行,人之步趨也。从彳,从亍。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.138
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

raw silk, white, plain

Depicts raw silk () hanging from a rack.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a rack.

Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts raw silk.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsuH[s]ˤak-s white silk

說文解字

《說文》:“素,白緻繒也。从糸、,取其澤也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.891-892
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica