Original meaning: dance

Pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. Original form of 舞 (dance). The current form is a phonetic loan. The simplified character 无 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 無.

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils. 事 and 史 were originally written the same, but later an extra mark was added to distinguish them.

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

Depicts two feet (癶) rising onto a stone platform (豆) to board into a vehicle.

Three horizontal strokes, representing the number three.

Simplified form of 寶. Depicts an assortment of valuable things, such as jade (玉), being stored safely under a roof (宀).

Original meaning: to smack the buttocks

Depicts a weapon (殳) smacking a person's buttocks (𡱒). In ancient China, having one's buttocks smacked with a huge stick was one of the punishments criminals could have. Based on the original meaning, "to smack the buttocks". The meaning later shifted to "palace" and "hall", because buildings have an elevated appearance that stick out like buttocks.

Original meaning: dance

Pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. Original form of 舞 (dance). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Depicts an assortment of valuable things, including jade (玉) and shells (貝), being stored safely under a roof (宀). The 缶 component represents the sound.