Depicts a person (人) raising silkworms (虫). Refers to Can Cong (蠶叢), the legendary ruler of the kingdom of Shu (modern-day Sichuan), who was said to have been the inventor of silk.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | dzyowk | [d]ok | caterpillar; Shu [place name] |
說文解字
《說文》：“蜀，葵中蠶也。从虫。上目象蜀頭形，中象其身蜎蜎。《詩》曰：‘蜎蜎者蜀。’”
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)
Original meaning: look at
Depicts an eye (目) looking at a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "look at". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to "compare" and "each other".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | sjang | [s]aŋ | mutually |
| sjangH | [s]aŋ-s | appearance, quality |
說文解字
《說文》：“相，省視也。从目，从木。《易》曰：‘地可觀者莫可觀於木。’《詩》曰：‘相鼠有皮。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.267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)