茅塞顿开
máo​sè​dùn​kāi

sudden insight

茅 máo reeds

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 矛 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

矛
矛 Sound component
máo spear

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 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-SagartmæwC.mˤrukind of grass; "thatch"
Zhengzhangmruː
Unicodemau

說文解字

菅也。从艸矛聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

塞 sāi, sè stop up

Depicts two hands (廾) stuffing various objects (工) into an enclosed space (宀). The 土 (earth) component was added later.

Components

宀
宀 Iconic component
mián roof
工
工 Iconic component
gōng work
工
工 Iconic component
gōng work
廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

噻

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsojH[s]ˤək-s frontier
sojH[s]ˤək-s pass (n.)
sok[s]ˤək stop up, block (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“塞，隔也。从土，从。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1189-1190
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

顿 dùn to bow, pause Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 页 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 頓.

Components

屯
屯 Sound component
tún, zhūn village
页
页 Meaning component
yè page

Depicts bowing the head.

Sources

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

开 kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of 開. Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門). The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

開
門 Deleted component
mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

邢趼锎岍汧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

荆妍

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode

頓 dùn to bow, pause Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 屯 represents the sound.

Components

屯
屯 Sound component
tún, zhūn village
頁
頁 Meaning component
yè (head), page

Depicts bowing the head.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

噸

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtuːns
Unicodeduə̀n

說文解字

《說文》：“頓，下首也。从頁，屯聲。”

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)

開 kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門).

Components

門
門 Iconic component
mén, men door
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojNə-[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.i.)
khoj[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“開，張也。从門，从幵。，古文開。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)