自惭形秽
zì​cán​xíng​huì

feel inferior

自 zì (nose), self

Original meaning: nose

Pictograph of a nose. Original form of 鼻 (nose). In China, when people point to themselves, they typically point to their nose.

Character Evolution

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (5)

息鼻牵牽𰄩

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

瘪憩洎邊癟

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

咱臭戛辠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzijHs.[b]i[t]-s self (adv.)
dzijHs.[b]i[t]-s to follow; from

說文解字

《說文》：“自，鼻也。象鼻形。，古文自。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.272
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

惭 cán ashamed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 斩 represents the sound. Simplified form of 慚.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

斩
斩 Sound component
zhǎn, zhàn chop

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

形 xíng, xing form, shape

Phonosemantic compound. 彡 represents the meaning and 井 represents the sound.

Components

井
井 Sound component
jǐng well
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 井 than it was in ancient scripts.
彡
彡 Meaning component
shān, xiǎn hair

Three lines depicting a shape

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartheng[ɢ]ˤeŋ form, shape

說文解字

《說文》：“形，象形也。从彡，幵聲。”

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)

秽 huì dirty Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 岁 represents the sound. Simplified form of 穢.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
岁
岁 Sound component
suì year

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

慚 cán ashamed Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 斬 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

斬
斬 Sound component
chop

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-Sagartdzam[dz]ˤamashamed
Zhengzhangzaːm
Unicodedzhɑm

Sources

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

穢 dirty Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 歲 represents the sound.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
歲
歲 Sound component
suì year

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartʔjwojHqʷat-sbad weeds; filth
Zhengzhangqʷads

Sources

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