踏雪寻梅
tà​xuě​xún​méi

admiring plums in snow

踏 tà, tā step on

Components

足
足 Meaning component
zú foot

foot

沓
沓 Sound component
dá, tà crowded, repeated

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangtʰuːb
Unicodetop

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

雪 xuě snow

Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 彗 represents the sound.

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
彗
彗 SoundRemnant component
huì, suì broom
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (0 of 2 verified)

鳕鱈

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjwet[s]ot snow

說文解字

《說文》：“，凝雨說物者。”

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)

寻 xún, xín seek Simplified

Original meaning: measure of length

Simplified form of 尋. Pictograph of two outstretched arms measuring lengt using a ruler. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

荨鲟浔彟

Sources

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

梅 méi plums

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
每
每 Sound component
měi every

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
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-SagartmwojC.mˤə plum tree

說文解字

《說文》：“梅，枏也，可食。从木，每聲。楳，或从某。”

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)

尋 xún, xín seek Traditional

Original meaning: measure of length

Pictograph of two outstretched arms measuring length using a ruler. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

潯鱘

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartzimsə-l[ə]m (< *-um ?)warm up
zimsə-l[ə]m measure of 8 chǐ 尺

說文解字

《說文》：“尋，繹理也。从工，从口，从又，从寸。工、口，亂也；又、寸，分理之。彡聲。此與同意。度人之兩臂為尋，八尺也。”

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)