辛丑条约
Xīn​chǒu Tiáo​yuē

Boxer Protocol

辛 xīn laborious

Original meaning: chisel

Pictograph of a chisel-like tool. The meaning later shifted to "hard" and "laborious".

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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 Spring and Autumn 771-476 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

Meaning (5 of 9 verified)

辞薛宰辣辜辭辡厗辠

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

新亲锌梓莘鋅

Iconic (2)

竟童

Unknown (1)

商

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsin[s]i[n] pungent; painful
sinsi[n] 8th heavenly stem

說文解字

《說文》：“辛，秋時萬物成而孰。金剛味辛，辛痛即泣出。从一，从。，辠也。辛承庚，象人股。”

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)

丑 chǒu second earthly branch; (simp.) ugly

Depicts of a hand or paw with fingernails or claws. The current meaning is a phonetic loan. In simplified Chinese 丑 is also used to mean "ugly", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 醜.

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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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 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 Xin 9-23 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

纽扭羞钮妞忸狃紐鈕

Iconic (1)

羞

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

衄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrhjuwX[n̥]ruʔ 2d earthly branch

說文解字

《說文》：“丑，紐也。十二月，萬物動，用事。象手之形。時加丑，亦舉手時也。”

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)

条 tiáo clause Simplified

Simplified form of 條. Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 攸 represents the sound.

Components

夂
夂 Simplified component
zhǐ, zhōng go

Shorthand for the 攸 component in the traditional character 條.

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

涤绦鲦

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

约 yuē agreement Simplified

Original meaning: bind

Simplified form of 約. Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

勺
勺 Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

药哟

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

條 tiáo long strip Traditional

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

Components

攸
攸 Sound component
yōu distant
Change in sound
木
木 Meaning component
mù tree

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

縧滌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdew[l]ˤiw arrange
dewlˤiw branch (n.), shoot (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“條，小枝也。从木，攸聲。”

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)

約 yuē agreement Traditional

Original meaning: bind

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

勺
勺 Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

葯喲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiewH[q]ewk-s bond, agreement (n.)
'jak[q](r)ewk bind (v.), make an agreement

說文解字

《說文》：“約，纏束也。从糸，勺聲。”

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)