蠹国害民
dù​guó​hài​mín

plunder and harm

蠹 dù moth

Components

橐
橐 Sound component
tuó, dù, luò a sack
虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

insect

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

insect

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttuHtˤak-sgrubs in wood, vermin
Zhengzhangtaːɡs

說文解字

木中蟲。从䖵橐聲。

Sources

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

国 guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
玉
玉 SoundSimplified component
yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

害 hài, hai injure

Original meaning: spearhead

Pictograph of a pointed spearhead. The distinguishing mark 口 was added later. Based on the original meaning "spearhead", now written as 𥎆. The meaning later shifted to "harm" and "injure".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a spearhead.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Western Zhou 1045-771 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

辖割瞎豁嗐轄

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

瞎

Iconic (1)

憲

Remnant (1)

憲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthajHN-kˤat-s be hurt (v.i.); injury (n.)
hajHm-kˤat-s hurt (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“害，傷也。从宀，从口。宀、口，言从家起也。丰聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》p.898林志強《《文源》評注》p.520
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

民 mín people

Original meaning: slave

Pictograph of an eye (目) being poked with something sharp. In ancient China, slaves were sometimes punished by blinding them with a sharp object. Based on the original meaning "slave". The meaning later shifted to "common person".

Components

目
目 Iconic component
mù eye
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 目 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a sharp object poking an eye.


Character Evolution

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 Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Xin 9-23 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

眠抿泯岷珉苠昬敃

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

氓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjinmi[ŋ] people

說文解字

《說文》：“民，眾萌也。从古文之象。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.855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)

國 guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
或
或 Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)