jade

Pictograph of a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string. A dot was later added to to distinguish it from (king).

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a ritual object made out of several pieces of jade joined together by a string.

zhǔ dot

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

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 8 verified)

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Iconic (3)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjowk[ŋ](r)ok (< uvular?) jade

說文解字

《說文》:“玉,石之美。有五德:潤澤以溫,仁之方也;理自外,可以知中,義之方也;其聲舒揚,專以遠聞,智之方也;不橈而折,勇之方也;銳廉而不技,絜之方也。象三玉之連,丨,其貫也。,古文玉。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

píng folding screen

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
hù, hu door
Sound component
bìng combine

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbeng[b]ˤeŋscreen; to protect
Zhengzhangpeŋ
peŋʔ
beːŋ
Unicodebheng

說文解字

屏蔽也。从尸幷聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

xiàn county Simplified

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a severed head () hanging on a rope () from a tree (). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The traditional component was removed for simplification.

Components

Iconic component
shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Deleted component
xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope. The traditional component was removed for simplification.

Component uses

Sound (1)

Iconic (1)

Sources

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

xiàn county Traditional

Original meaning: suspend, hang

Pictograph of a severed head () hanging on a rope () from a tree (). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Iconic component
shǒu head

Depicts a severed head.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
tree
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
xì, xi, jì system

Depicts a rope.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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 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 (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwenHCə.[g]ʷˤe[n]-s district
hwen[g]ʷˤe[n] suspend

說文解字

《說文》:“縣,繫也。从系持。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica