文艺作品
wén​yì​zuò​pǐn

artwork

文 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)

这纹玫坟蚊雯紊汶玟紋閔忞炆

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

斑斌彦斐闵斓彥斕

Simplified (2)

这刘

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
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

艺 yì skill, art Simplified

Original meaning: to plant

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 乙 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art". Simplified form of 藝.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 艺, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 艺 in modern Mandarin.
乙
乙 Sound component
yǐ second

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

呓

Sources

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

作 zuò make

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 乍 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

乍
乍 Sound component
zhà, zuò suddenly
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 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 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 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)

做

Meaning (1)

做

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsak[ts]ˤak do, work
tsuH[ts]ˤak-s do, work

說文解字

《說文》：“作，起也。从人，从乍。”

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)

品 pǐn product

Triple of 口. Depicts several types of things together.

Components

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (6)

区临臨區喿喦

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

临臨闆榀嵒

Simplified (2)

区临

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphimXpʰr[ə]mʔ kind, class

說文解字

《說文》：“品，眾庶也。从三口。”

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)

藝 yì skill, art Traditional

Original meaning: to plant

Originally written as 埶. The 艹 component was added later, based on the original meaning "to plant". The meaning later shifted to "skill" and "art".

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 藝, "to plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 藝 in modern Mandarin.
埶
埶 SoundMeaning component
yì, shì art, skill
云
云 Unknown component
yún clouds

Corruption of the bottom part of the 丮 component in 埶.

Character Evolution

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)

囈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjiejHŋet-s (MC I!)cultivation, art, skill

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.218
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica