重现江湖

重 zhòng, chóng heavy

Pictograph of a person (亻) carrying a heavy basket (東) on their back.

Components

亻
亻 Iconic component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

東
東 SoundIconic component
dōng east

Depicts a basket.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 8 verified)

董踵锺種腫衝鍾動

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

腫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjowng[m]-troŋ repeat; double
drjowngXN-t<r>oŋʔ heavy
drjowngHN-t<r>oŋʔ-s weight (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“重，厚也。从壬，東聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.657-658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)

现 xiàn appear Simplified

Simplified form of 現. Etymologically related to 见 (to see). Originally these two characters were written the same, then the 𤣩 component was added to distinguish them.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Distinguishing component
yù jade

Distinguishes 现 from 见.

见
见 SoundMeaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode

江 jiāng large river

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 工 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

工
工 Sound component
gōng work
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

鸿鴻茳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaewngkˤroŋ (Yangzi) river

說文解字

《說文》：“江，水。出蜀湔氐徼外崏山，入海。从水，工聲。”

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)

湖 hú a lake

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 胡 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

胡
胡 Sound component
hú beard

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthu[g]ˤa lake

說文解字

《說文》：“湖，大陂也。从水，胡聲。揚州浸有五湖。浸，川澤所仰以灌溉也。”

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)

現 xiàn appear Traditional

Etymologically related to 見 (to see). Originally these two characters were written the same, then the 𤣩 component was added to distinguish them.

Components

𤣩
𤣩 Distinguishing component
yù jade

Distinguishes 現 from 見.

見
見 SoundMeaning component
jiàn, xiàn, jian see

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthenHN-[k]ˤen-s appear

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart