明枪易躲，暗箭难防 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

míng, ming bright

The character was originally depicted moonlight (月) shining through a window (囧). The 囧 component was later reanalyzed as 日 (sun).

Components

囧 Sound Iconic component

jiǒng bright window

The modern form looks similar to 日 (sun).

Change in sound

明 and 囧 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
明 *mraŋ
囧 *k-mraŋʔ (dialect: *k.mr- > *kʷr-)

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 囧 than it was in ancient scripts.

月 Iconic component

yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

盟萌

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	mjaeng	mraŋ	bright

說文解字

《說文》：“朙，照也。从月，从囧。明，古文朙，从日。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.551-552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)

qiāng gun, spear Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 仓 represents the sound. Simplified form of 槍.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

仓 Sound component

cāng granary

Sources

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

yì easy

Original meaning: to bestow, give

Upside-down version of 益, depicting food or drink being poured from a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "to bestow, give", now written as 賜. The meaning later shifted to "exchange", "change", and "easy".

Components

皿 Iconic component

mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a vessel for holding food or drink.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 皿 than it was in ancient scripts.

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts food or drink being poured from a container.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

锡赐踢惕剔蜴裼埸錫賜鬄

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

裼鬄

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yeH	lek-s	easy
	yek	lek	change; exchange

說文解字

《說文》：“易，蜥易，蝘蜓，守宮也。象形。《秘書》說，日月為易，象陰陽也。一曰从勿。”

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)

duǒ hide

Phonosemantic compound. 身 represents the meaning and 朵 represents the sound.

Components

身 Meaning component

shēn body

朵 Sound component

duo, duǒ flower

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	toːlʔ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang

àn dark

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 音 represents the sound.

Components

日 Meaning component

rì sun

音 Sound component

yīn sound

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'omH	qˤum-s	dark

說文解字

《說文》：“暗，日無光也。从日，音聲。”

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)

jiàn arrow

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 前 represents the sound.

Components

⺮ Meaning component

zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

前 Sound component

qián in front

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsjenH	[ts]en-s	arrow

說文解字

《說文》：“箭，矢也。从竹，前聲。”

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)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Original meaning: type of bird

Simplified form of 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 難.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

滩摊瘫傩

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

fáng defend

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

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

方 Sound component

fāng, fang square

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	bjang	[m-p]aŋ	dike

說文解字

隄也。从𨸏方聲。

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)

qiāng gun, spear Traditional

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

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

倉 Sound component

cāng granary

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang		sʰaŋ
		sʰraːŋ
Unicode	tsiɑng

說文解字

《說文》：“槍，歫也。从木，倉聲。一曰槍欀也。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Original meaning: type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

𦰩 Sound component

jiān to sigh

Change in sound

難 and 𦰩 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

攤儺癱灘

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nan	nˤar	difficult
	nanH	nˤar-s	difficulty

說文解字

《說文》：“，鳥也。从鳥，堇聲。難，或从隹。”

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)

明 míng, ming bright

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

枪 qiāng gun, spear Simplified

Components

Sources

易 yì easy

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

躲 duǒ hide

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

暗 àn dark

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

箭 jiàn arrow

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

难 nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Sources

防 fáng defend

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

槍 qiāng gun, spear Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

難 nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

míng, ming bright

qiāng gun, spear Simplified

yì easy

duǒ hide

àn dark

jiàn arrow

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

fáng defend

qiāng gun, spear Traditional

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional