穷当益坚
qióng​dāng​yì​jiān

resilient

穷 qióng poor Simplified

Simplified form of 窮. Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
力
力 Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the 躬 component in the traditional character 窮.

Sources

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

当 dāng, dàng, dang to match Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 田 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. The simplified character 当 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 當.

Components

彐
彐 Simplified component
jì snout

Shorthand for the 田 component in the traditional character 當.

尚
尚 SoundSimplifiedRemnant component
shàng, shang esteem

Shorthand for the 尚 component in the traditional character 當.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

档挡裆铛筜𪠽

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

挡

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

益 yì benefit

Original meaning: overflow

Depicts water (水) filling up a container (皿). Based on the original meaning "overflow", now written as 溢. The meaning later shifted to "increase" and "benefit".

Components

水
水 Iconic component
shuǐ water

Depicts water.

皿
皿 Iconic component
mǐn, mǐng dish

Depicts a vessel for holding food or drink.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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 8 verified)

溢隘谥缢镒嗌謚縊

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

蠲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiekq[i]k (dialect: *-ik > *-ek)increase

說文解字

《說文》：“益，饒也。从水、皿。皿，益之意也。”

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)

坚 jiān firm, solid Simplified

Simplified form of 堅. Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 臤 represents the sound.

Components

𰀡
𰀡 Sound component
qiān to gouge out an eye
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

铿悭鲣

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

悭

Sources

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

窮 qióng poor Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 穴 represents the meaning and 躬 represents the sound.

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
躬
躬 Sound component
gōng body

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

藭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjuwng[g](r)uŋ poor
gjuwngm-[g](r)uŋ exhaust

說文解字

《說文》：“竆，極也。从穴，躳聲。”

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)

當 dāng, dàng, dang to match Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 田 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound.

Components

田
田 Meaning component
tián field
尚
尚 Sound component
shàng, shang esteem

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

簹儅噹檔鐺擋襠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

擋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttangtˤaŋ match (v.); have the value of, rank with
tangHtˤaŋ-s suitable

說文解字

《說文》：“當，田相值也。从田，尚聲。”

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)

堅 jiān firm, solid Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 臤 represents the sound.

Components

臤
臤 Sound component
to gouge out an eye
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

鰹慳

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

慳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkenkˤi[ŋ] solid, strong

說文解字

《說文》：“堅，剛也。从臤，从土。”

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)