遣使
qiǎn​shǐ

dispatch envoy

遣 qiǎn send

Depicts a pair of hands (𦥑) sending out an army (師) from the military. The 辶 (walk) component was later added.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

𦥑
𦥑 Iconic component
jú, jǔ, póu two hands

Depicts two hands.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𦥑 than it was in ancient scripts.
師
師 MeaningRemnant component
shī teacher

𠂤 is used here as an abbreviation of 師.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 (2 of 4 verified)

谴缱譴繾

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjienX[k]ʰe[n]ʔ send
khjienH[k]ʰe[n]ʔ-s (*kʰ- doesn't palatalize)grave goods

說文解字

《說文》：“遣，縱也。从辵，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.126
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

使 shǐ to use

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

吏
吏 SoundIconic component
lì government official

Depicts a hand holding a container for writing utensils.

Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsriXs-rəʔ send; cause
sriHs-rəʔ-s envoy

說文解字

《說文》：“使，伶也。从人，吏聲。”

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)