钟馗
Zhōng Kuí

courageous fighter

钟 zhōng cup Simplified

Simplified form of 鐘 and 鍾. Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 中 represents the sound.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

中
中 Sound component
zhōng, zhòng central

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

馗 kuí, qiú cheekbone

Components

九
九 Sound component
jiǔ nine
首
首 Meaning component
shǒu head

head

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgwij[ɡ]ʷruthoroughfare
Zhengzhangɡu
ɡʷrɯw

說文解字

九達道也。似龜背，故謂之馗。馗，高也。从九从首。

Sources

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

鍾 cup Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 重 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

重
重 Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Xin 9-23 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-Sagarttsyowngtoŋ accumulate; repeat
tsyowngtoŋ bell; wine vessel; an ancient measure

說文解字

《說文》：“鍾，酒器也。从金，重聲。”

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)