旁门左道
páng​mén​zuǒ​dào

heterodoxy

旁 páng side

Phonosemantic component. 凡 represents the meaning and 方 represents the sound.

Components

凡
凡 Iconic component
fán all

Depicts a wide, flat object.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 凡 than it was in ancient scripts.
方
方 SoundMeaning component
fāng, fang square

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 14 verified)

膀镑榜傍磅谤螃滂耪蒡鳑鰟鎊謗

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

膀榜傍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbang[b]ˤaŋ side; broad

說文解字

《說文》：“旁，溥也。从二，闕，方聲。，古文；，亦古文；雱，籀文。”

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)

门 mén, men door Simplified

Simplified form of 門. Pictograph of a gate.

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 32 verified)

阅闲阔阁闯阐阎阀闸闺阙阑阉阂闩闾阖闱阈闶闼阋阕闳阏阒阍阆阃闫阊阚

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

们问闻闷闽闵扪蔺钔訚

Iconic (5)

间闪闭闰𫔭

Simplified (1)

闹

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

锎

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

左 zuǒ left

Pictograph of a left hand. The 工 (work) component was added later to represent the meaning "help; assist", now written as 佐.

Components

𠂇
𠂇 Iconic component
zuǒ left hand
工
工 Meaning component
gōng work

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 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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

差佐惰

Iconic (1)

差

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

媠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsaXtsˤa[j]ʔ left (side)
tsaXtsˤa[j]ʔ assist
tsaHtsˤarʔ-s assist

說文解字

《說文》：“左，手相左助也。从、工。”

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)

道 dào, dao path

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 首 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

首
首 Sound component
shǒu head
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

導

Meaning (1)

導

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawHlˤuʔ-s show the way
dawX[kə.l]ˤuʔ way

說文解字

所行道也。从辵从𩠐。一達謂之道。

Sources

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

門 mén, men door Traditional

Original meaning: outer door

Pictograph of a gate.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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

Meaning (5 of 34 verified)

關閱闆閒閤闊闉閣閶閻閭闢闃闕閬閾閔閑閹闌闡闖閘闞闈閡閨閫閦閼閎闔閂閥

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

聞誾閵問們捫閩悶

Iconic (5)

間開閉閃閏

Deleted (2)

开关

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmwonmˤə[r] gate, door

說文解字

《說文》：“門，聞也。从二戶，象形。”

Sources

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