折戟沉沙
zhé​jǐ​chén​shā

battle remnants

折 zhé, zhē, shé break off

Depicts a hand (扌) using an axe (斤) to chop something. Older forms of this character depicted an axe chopping a tree into two pieces.

Components

扌
扌 Iconic component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

斤
斤 Iconic component
jīn axe

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (2 of 7 verified)

哲誓逝浙蜇踅哳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdejH[d]ˤet-s solitary standing (sc. tree)
dzyetN-tet bend (v.i.)
tsyettet bend; break (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“折，斷也。从斤斷艸，譚長說。，籀文折，从艸在仌中，仌寒，故折。𣂚，篆文折，从手。”

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)

戟 jǐ halberd with crescent blade

Phonosemantic compound. 戈 represents the meaning and 倝 represents the sound.

Components

倝
倝 SoundRemnant component
gàn sunrise
Change in sound
戈
戈 Meaning component
gē spear

Character Evolution

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjaek[k]rak a kind of lance

說文解字

《說文》：“，有枝兵也。从戈、倝。《周禮》：長丈六尺。’讀若棘。”

Sources

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

沉 chén, chēn sink

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 冘 represents the sound. Variant of 沈.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

冘
冘 Sound component
yín, yóu to move on

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'um
Unicodedjhim

Sources

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

沙 shā sand

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 少 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

少
少 SoundIconic component
shǎo, shao, shào few

少 depicts four small grains of sand.

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

莎鲨娑裟挲痧桫鯊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsraesˤraj sand

說文解字

《說文》：“沙，水石也。从水，从少，水少沙見。楚東有沙水。譚長說，沙，或从尐。”

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)