真伪莫辨
zhēn​wěi​mò​biàn

indistinguishable

真 zhēn real

Original meaning: precious

Based on the original meaning "precious", now written as 珍. The meaning later shifted to "genuine" and "true".

Components

𠂈
𠂈 Sound component
diān, tiǎn to fall forwards

Based on an ancient variant of 殄.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠂈 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were considered precious and were used as currency.

丁
丁 Sound component
dīng cubes
Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丁 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (7 of 15 verified)

镇慎填颠滇嗔缜稹瞋鎮禛顛瑱鬒縝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyinti[n] true, real

說文解字

《說文》：“真，僊人變形而登天也。从，从目，从。八，所乘載也。，古文真。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.643-644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)

伪 wěi false Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 为 represents the sound. Simplified form of 偽.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

为
为 Sound component
wèi, wéi do

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

莫 mò, mo do not

Original meaning: sunset

Depicts the sun (日) shining through vegetation (茻). Based on the original meaning "sunset", now written as 暮. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

茻
茻 Iconic component
mǎng, mǔ vegetation, overgrown weeds
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 茻 than it was in ancient scripts.
日
日 Iconic component
rì sun

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Western Zhou ~800 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 23 verified)

模幕摸漠墓膜慕寞募暮摹蓦谟蟆馍镆貘嫫驀瘼糢謨饃

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmakmˤak there is no X such that X …
makmˤak deliberate (v.) (loan)

說文解字

《說文》：“莫，日且冥也。从日在茻中。”

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)

辨 biàn distinguish

Original meaning: to cut into two parts

刂 (knife) added between two 辛 (chisel) components or 辡 conveying the original meaning "to cut into two parts". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "distinguish". 辡 also provides the sound.

Components

辡
辡 SoundIconic component
biàn criminals accusing one another

Here used to depict an object being cut into two parts. 辡 also gives the sound.

刂
刂 Iconic component
dāo knife

Depicts a knife.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjenX[b]renʔ distinguish

說文解字

《說文》：“辦，判也。从刀，辡聲。”

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)

偽 wěi false Traditional

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

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

為
為 Sound component
wèi, wéi do

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjweHN-ɢʷ(r)aj-sFALSE
ngjweHm-ɢʷ(r)aj-sfalsify; deceive
Zhengzhangŋʷrals

Sources

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