攀附权贵
pān​fù​quán​guì

social climbing

攀 pān climb

Phonosemantic compound. 手 represents the meaning and 樊 represents the sound. Originally written as 𠬜, which depicts two hands facing away from each other, representing the action of climbing.

Components

樊
樊 SoundIconic component
fán, fàn a railing

Depicts two hands (𠬜) climbing over a fence (棥).

手
手 Meaning component
shǒu, shou hand

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

襻

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

襻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphaenpʰˤran pull oneself up

說文解字

《說文》：“，引也。从反廾。，或从手从樊。”

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)

附 fù attach, be near

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

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

付
付 Sound component
fù, fu pay, hand over

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjuHN-p(r)oʔ-s be attached to

說文解字

附𡝤，小土山也。从𨸏付聲。《春秋傳》曰：“附𡝤無松栢。”

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)

权 quán power Simplified

Simplified form of 權. Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 權.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Sources

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

贵 guì expensive Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 贝 represents the meaning and 㬰 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貴.

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
贝
贝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

遗溃馈匮篑聩愦缋蒉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

馈

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode

權 quán power, right Traditional

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

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
雚
雚 Sound component
guàn, huán heron

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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjwen[g]ʷrar weight of a steelyard

說文解字

《說文》：“權，黃華木。从木，雚聲。一曰反常。”

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)

貴 guì expensive Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 㬰 represents the sound.

Components

㬰
㬰 Sound component
yú, kuì basket
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㬰 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

Depicts a shell, used as currency in ancient China.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 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 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 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 (3 of 7 verified)

遺饋聵匱潰蕢簣

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

饋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjw+jHkuj-s precious; expensive

說文解字

《說文》：“，物不賤也。从貝，臾聲。臾，古文蕢。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.525-526
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)