陶瓷器
táo​cí​qì

ceramics

陶 táo pottery

A mound 阝 of clay 匋; 匋 also provides the pronunciation

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place
匋
匋 SoundMeaning component
táo, yáo pottery

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 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 Chinese
Zhengzhangbl'uː
luː
Unicodedhɑu

說文解字

再成丘也，在濟陰。从𨸏匋聲。《夏書》曰：“東至于陶丘。”陶丘有堯城，堯嘗所居，故堯號陶唐氏。

Sources

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

瓷 cí crockery

Phonosemantic compound. 瓦 represents the meaning and 次 represents the sound.

Components

瓦
瓦 Meaning component
wǎ earthenware
次
次 Sound component
cì second, next

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzli

說文解字

瓦器。从瓦次聲。

Sources

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

器 qì receptacle

Origin unclear.

Components

㗊
㗊 Unknown component
jí, léi clamour, noise
犬
犬 Unknown component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

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 Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
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 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-SagartkhijH[kʰ]r[ə][t]-s vessel; instrument

說文解字

《說文》：“器，皿也。象器之口，犬所以守之。”

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)