百善孝为先 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

bǎi one hundred

Phonosemantic compound. 一 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

一 Meaning component

yī one

白 Sound component

bái, bai white

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

佰貊皕

Sound (2)

陌佰

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	paek	pˤrak	hundred

說文解字

《說文》：“百，十十也。从一、白。數，十百為一貫，相章也。，古文百从自。”

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)

shàn good

Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning component

yáng sheep

言 Sound component

yán speech

Change in sound

善 and 言 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
善 *[g]e[n]ʔ
言 *ŋa[n]

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

膳缮蟮鳝鄯繕鱔

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dzyenX	[g]e[n]ʔ	good

說文解字

《說文》：“譱，吉也。从誩，从羊。此與義、美同意。，篆文从言。”

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)

xiào filial piety

Depicts a child (子) respecting an old man (老), conveying the meaning "filial piety".

Components

老 Iconic Remnant component

lǎo old

子 Iconic component

zi, zǐ child

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

哮酵

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	xaewH	qʰˤ<r>uʔ-s	filial

說文解字

《說文》：“孝，善事父母者。从老省，从子，子承老也。”

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)

wèi, wéi do Simplified

Simplified form of 為. Pictograph of a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".

Components

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Change in form

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

象 Iconic Simplified component

xiàng elephant

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

伪沩

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.194
Readings & variants: Unicode

xiān first

Depicts a person (人) stepping forward (止) leading the way.

Components

止 Iconic component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot stepping forward.

Change in form

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

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (4 of 11 verified)

选洗宪酰诜铣跣冼筅銑兟

Meaning (1)

兟

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	sen	sˤər	first
	senH	sˤər-s	go first

說文解字

《說文》：“先，前進也。从儿，从之。”

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)

wèi, wéi do Traditional

Originally written as 爲, which depicts a hand (又) guiding an elephant (象) to do work (in ancient China elephants were tamed to do work). Based on the meaning "to work; to do".