臧
zāngZāng

good

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approved by Prismcool · Oct 3, 2023, 06:24 PM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Oct 3, 2023, 06:24 PM

Changed etymology

Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, components, customSources, strokeDataSimp, fragmentsSimp, historicalImages

Original meaning: slave; servant

Depicts a weapon (戈) slashing an eye (臣). In ancient China, captured prisoners were blinded with weapons making them into slaves. 爿 was later added as a sound component. Based on the original meaning, "slave; servant". The current meaning "good" is a phonetic loan.

Components

臣
臣 Iconic component

Depicts an eye.

戕
戕 Iconic component
爿
爿 Sound component
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsang[ts]ˤaŋ good

說文解字

《說文》：“臧，善也。从臣，戕聲。，籀文。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)