中

元

Unicode: U+5143

Pinyin: yuán

Definition

* 头、首、始、大。 ～凶。～首。～旦。～年。～勋。～帅。状～（科举考试第一名）。 * 基本。 单～。～件。～气（精气，根本）。～素。～音。 * 同"圆"。 * 未知数。 一～二次方程。 * 中国朝代名。 ～代。～曲。 * 姓。 * 古同"玄"，清代避康熙皇帝（玄烨）名讳，以"元"代"玄"

first; dollar; origin; head

Structure

元 graph

Related substructures

oUQOchDU a485y6t6 YavyGc7t

Precursors

Oracle Bone Script
c. 1300–1050 BCE (Late Shang)
Inscriptions carved on turtle plastrons and animal bones for divination and record-keeping in the late Shang royal court; the oldest large attested corpus of written Chinese.Wikipedia ->
41_E01541_E01641_E01741_E01841_E01941_E01A41_E01B41_E01C41_E01D41_E01E41_E01F41_E02041_E02141_E02241_E02341_E02441_E02541_E02641_E02741_E02841_E02941_E02A41_E02B41_E02C41_E02D41_E02E41_E02F41_E03041_E03141_E03241_E03341_E03441_E035
Bronze Inscriptions
c. 1200–221 BCE (Shang–Zhou; continues into the Warring States)
Inscriptions cast or engraved on ritual bronzes, especially prominent from the Western Zhou onward; a major source for early political, ritual, and social history.Wikipedia ->
31_E00F31_E01131_E01031_E01331_E01431_E01231_E01831_E01C31_E01631_E01931_E03131_E01531_E01731_E02931_E01A31_E02631_E02B31_E02A31_E03231_E02E31_E02D31_E02831_E01E31_E01D31_E02331_E02731_E02131_E02231_E02F31_E03031_E02C31_E01F31_E02031_E01B31_E02431_E03431_E03335_E038
Chu Script
c. 770–221 BCE (Chu, Spring & Autumn–Warring States)
A regional script tradition used in the state of Chu, best known from brush-written bamboo and silk manuscripts with distinctive local forms.Wikipedia ->
55_E06155_E06255_E06355_E06455_E065
Qin Script
c. 475–206 BCE (Qin, Warring States → Qin dynasty)
Qin-area character forms attested on bamboo/wood slips (e.g., Shuihudi, deposited 217 BCE), overlapping chronologically with the standardization of seal script and the emergence of clerical tendencies.Wikipedia ->
71_E00571_E006
Small Seal Script
Standardized 221–206 BCE (Qin); developed earlier in Qin
The standardized seal script promulgated after Qin’s unification, based on earlier Qin seal forms and used as an empire-wide norm.Wikipedia ->
27_5143
Clerical Script
c. 300 BCE–220 CE (emerged late Warring States/Qin; dominant Han)
A practical script that evolved from late Warring States/Qin writing; it matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, favoring faster, more rectilinear strokes.Wikipedia ->
91_E00C91_E00D91_E00E91_E01091_E01191_E01491_E00F91_E01591_E01291_E01391_E01791_E01891_E01991_E01A91_E01671_E00571_E00691_E01B
Transmitted Pre-Qin Forms
Pre-Qin forms (≤221 BCE) / late 2nd century BCE onward (Han → later textual transmission)
Pre-Qin character forms preserved through later textual transmission (often discussed as the 'Old Text' / guwen tradition). Shaped by repeated copying, they can diverge from excavated Warring States materials.Wikipedia ->
81_E01481_E01581_E01681_E01781_E01881_E01981_E01A81_E01B81_E01C81_E01D81_E01E81_E01F81_E02081_E02181_E022

Last Modified: 2026-01-29 11:48 UTC