胜不骄，败不馁
shèng​bù​jiāo, bài​bù​něi

modest and resilient

胜 shèng victory Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound. Simplified form of 勝.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsleːŋ

說文解字

《說文》：“胜，犬膏臭也。从肉，生聲。一曰不孰也。”

Sources

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

不 bù, bu no

Original meaning: sepals

Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

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
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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 5 verified)

否杯钚罘盃

Simplified (4)

还环怀坏

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

否歪甭孬

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwpə not
pjuwpə 不律 writing brush (pron. in Wú 吳 ap. Shuōwén; E. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“不，鳥飛上翔不下來也。从一，一猶天也。象形。”

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)

骄 jiāo spirited, haughty Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 马 represents the meaning and 乔 represents the sound. Simplified from 驕.

Components

马
马 Meaning component
mǎ horse
乔
乔 SoundMeaning component
qiáo, jiǎo tall

Sources

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

败 bài be defeated Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 敗.

Components

贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Sources

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

馁 něi hungry Simplified

Components

饣
饣 Meaning component
shí eat

food

妥
妥 Sound component
tuǒ satisfactory

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

勝 shèng victory Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 朕 represents the sound.

Components

朕
朕 Sound component
zhèn pronoun 'I'
力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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-Sagartsyingl̥əŋ equal to, capable of
syingHl̥əŋ-s overcome; surpass

說文解字

《說文》：“勝，任也。从力，朕聲。”

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)

驕 jiāo spirited, haughty Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 馬 represents the meaning and 喬 represents the sound.

Components

馬
馬 Meaning component
mǎ horse
喬
喬 SoundMeaning component
tall

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkrew
Unicodegyɛu

說文解字

《說文》：“驕，馬高六尺為驕。从馬，喬聲。《詩》曰：‘我馬唯驕。’一曰野馬。”

Sources

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

敗 bài be defeated Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.

Components

貝
貝 Sound component
bèi sea shell
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbaejHN-pˤra[t]-s suffer defeat
paejHpˤra[t]-s defeat (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“敗，毁也。从攴、貝。敗賊皆从貝，會意。贁，籀文敗，从賏。”

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)

餒 hungry Traditional

Components

飠
飠 Meaning component
eat

food

妥
妥 Sound component
tuǒ satisfactory

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnwojXnˤujʔhungry, starve
Zhengzhangnuːlʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang