非诚勿扰
fēi​chéng​wù​rǎo

serious inquiries

非 fēi not

Depicts two people facing opposite directions.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 25 verified)

排罪悲菲辈匪啡斐徘裴诽腓绯扉翡蜚霏俳鲱痱悱鯡輩緋誹

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

靠靡

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpj+jpəj is not

說文解字

《說文》：“非，違也。从飛下翄，取其相背。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.824-825
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

诚 chéng sincere Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 成 represents the sound. Simplified form of 誠.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

成
成 Sound component
chéng, cheng completed

Sources

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

勿 wù, mò must not

Original meaning: cut throat

Depicts a knife (刀) cutting with drops of blood coming out, based on the original meaning "cut throat", now written as 刎. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

刀
刀 Iconic component
dāo knife
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts drops of blood.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

物忽吻笏囫刎芴

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

犂

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjutmut don't
mjutmut not ... it

說文解字

《說文》：“勿，州里所建旗。象其柄，有三游。雜帛，幅半異。所以趣民，故遽稱勿勿。，勿或从。”

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)

扰 rǎo disturb Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 憂 represents the sound. Simplified form of 擾.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

尤
尤 Simplified component
yóu especially

Shorthand for the phonetic 憂 component in the traditional character 擾.

Sources

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

誠 chéng sincere Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 成 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
成
成 Sound component
chéng, cheng completed

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyeng[d]eŋ sincere

說文解字

《說文》：“誠，信也。从言，成聲。”

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)

擾 rǎo disturb Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 憂 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

憂
憂 Sound component
yōu sad

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangnjiwʔ
Unicodenjiɛ̌u

說文解字

《說文》：“，煩也。从手，夒聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)