独尊儒术
dú​zūn​rú​shù

revere Confucianism

独 dú alone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound. Simplified form of 獨.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

虫
虫 Simplified component
chóng bug, insect

Shorthand for the phonetic 蜀 component in the traditional character 獨.

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

尊 zūn respect

Depicts a hand (寸) offering a container of wine (酋).

Components

酋
酋 Iconic component
qiú chief of tribe

Depicts a container of wine.

寸
寸 SoundIconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

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
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 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 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 6 verified)

遵蹲樽鳟撙鱒

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

遵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttswon[ts]ˤu[n] honor (v.)
tswon[ts]ˤu[n] wine-cup

說文解字

《說文》：“，酒器也。从酋，廾以奉之。《周禮》六尊：犧尊、象尊、著尊、壺尊、太尊、山尊，以待祭祀賓客之禮。尊，或从寸。”

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)

儒 rú Confucian scholar

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

需
需 Sound component
xū need

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyuno侏儒 zhūrú "dwarf", scholar, Confucianism<br><small>(not in original list)</small>
Zhengzhangnjo
Unicodenjio
njio

說文解字

柔也。術士之偁。从人需聲。

Sources

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

术 shù art Simplified

Original meaning: city road

Simplified form of 術. Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. The traditional component 行 was removed for simplification. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".

Components

術
行 Deleted component
xíng, háng walk

The traditional component 行 was removed for simplification.

Change in meaning
行 hints at the original meaning of 术, "city road", which is no longer the most common meaning of 术 in modern Mandarin.
朮
朮 Sound component
shù glutinous millet

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

述怵沭

說文解字

《說文》：“秫，稷之黏者。从禾、术，象形。术，秫或省禾。”

Sources

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

獨 dú alone Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

蜀
蜀 Sound component
shǔ short name for Sichuan
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartduwk[d]ˤok alone; only

說文解字

《說文》：“獨，犬相得而鬭也。从犬，蜀聲。羊為羣，犬為獨也。一曰北囂山有獨獸，如虎，白身，豕鬣，尾如馬。”

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)

術 art, skill Traditional

Original meaning: city road

Phonosemantic compound. 行 represents the meaning and 朮 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "city road". The meaning later shifted to "way", "method", "technique", and "skill".

Components

行
行 Meaning component
xíng, háng walk
Change in meaning
行 hints at the original meaning of 術, "city road", which is no longer the most common meaning of 術 in modern Mandarin.
朮
朮 Sound component
shù glutinous millet

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzywitCə-lut technique

說文解字

《說文》：“術，邑中道也。从行，术聲。”

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)