wén​jiàn​jiā

folder

wén writing

Pictograph of a man with writing (possibly a tattoo) on his chest. In later scripts the writing was abbreviated to a dot or omitted altogether.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~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 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 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
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 13 verified)

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

Simplified (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjunmə[n] ornate

說文解字

《說文》:“文,錯畫也。象交文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.706
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

jiàn piece

Depicts a person () cutting a cow () into pieces.

Components

Meaning component
rén person

is a component form of .

Meaning component
niú cow

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjenX[g]r[a][n]ʔ (no pre-Qín exx?)item

說文解字

《說文》:“件,分也。从人,从牛。牛,大物,故可分。”

Sources

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

jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a person () being pushed by people on both sides.

Components

Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a standing person being pushed from both sides.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Depicts a person pushing from the left.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Depicts a person pushing from the right.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 13 verified)

Meaning (0 of 5 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

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

jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides Traditional

Pictograph of a person () being pushed by people on both sides.

Components

Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a standing person being pushed from both sides.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Depicts a person pushing from the left.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Depicts a person pushing from the right.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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 Qin 221-206 BC
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 of 12 verified)

Meaning (0 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkeapkˤ<r>ep press between

說文解字

《說文》:“夾,持也。从大,俠二人。”

Sources

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