至关重要
zhì​guān​zhòng​yào HSK7

crucial

至 zhì reach

Pictograph of an arrow hitting its target.

Character Evolution

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 Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 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 13 verified)

致室侄窒蛭郅桎轾耋垤輊姪咥

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

到臻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyijHti[t]-s arrive

說文解字

《說文》：“至，鳥飛从高下至地也。从一，一猶地也。象形。不，上去。而至，下來也。，古文至。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.829
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

关 guān to close Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 門 represents the meaning and 𢇇 represents the sound. The simplified character 关 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 關. The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

關
門 Deleted component
mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

𢇇
𢇇 SoundSimplified component
guān to run threads through a web in weaving

Shorthand for the 𢇇 component in the traditional character 關.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (1 of 2 verified)

联郑

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica

重 zhòng, chóng heavy

Pictograph of a person (亻) carrying a heavy basket (東) on their back.

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

東
東 SoundIconic component
dōng east

Depicts a basket.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 8 verified)

董踵锺種腫衝鍾動

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

腫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjowng[m]-troŋ repeat; double
drjowngXN-t<r>oŋʔ heavy
drjowngHN-t<r>oŋʔ-s weight (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“重，厚也。从壬，東聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.657-658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)

要 yào, yāo want

Original meaning: waist

Pictograph of two hands grabbing a woman's (女) waist. The current meaning "want" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "waist" is now written as 腰.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts two hands grabbing a waist.

Change in meaning
◎ hints at the original meaning of 要, "waist", which is no longer the most common meaning of 要 in modern Mandarin.
女
女 Iconic component
nǚ, nü woman

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 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 (2 of 3 verified)

票腰崾

Remnant (1)

票

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiewH[q]ew(k)-s important

說文解字

《說文》：“要，身中也，象人要自之形。从，交省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.183
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

關 guān to close Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 門 represents the meaning and 𢇇 represents the sound.

Components

門
門 Meaning component
mén, men door
𢇇
𢇇 Sound component
guān to run threads through a web in weaving

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwaen[k]ˤro[n] barrier
kwaen[k]ˤro[n] 關關 kwaen.kwaen [bird’s cry]
kwaenkˤro[n] 間關 sound of a chariot's linchpin (Ode 218.1)

說文解字

《說文》：“關，以木橫持門戶也。从門，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)