中

臣

Unicode: U+81E3

Pinyin: chén

Definition

* 君主时代的官吏，有时亦包括百姓。 ～僚。～子。～服。君～。 * 官吏对君主的自称："王必无人，～愿奉璧往使。" * 古人谦称自己。 * 古代指男性奴隶。 ～仆。～虏

minister, statesman, official

Structure

臣 graph

Related substructures

S4T8bShS

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_F09641_F09741_F09841_F09941_F09A41_F09B41_F09C41_F09D41_F09E41_F09F41_F0A041_F0A141_F0A241_F0A341_F0A441_F0A541_F0A641_F0A741_F0A841_F0A941_F0AA41_F0AB41_F0AC41_F0AD41_F0AE41_F0AF41_F0B0
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_F14531_F14431_F15131_F13C31_F14931_F14C31_F15731_F15631_F14031_F15331_F15531_F14A31_F15931_F14731_F15B31_F15831_F14231_F14331_F13E31_F13D31_F14631_F14B31_F15031_F14131_F15431_F13F31_F15231_F14E31_F14F31_F14831_F15F31_F15E31_F16C31_F16431_F16031_F16A31_F16931_F16831_F14D31_F15C31_F15D31_F16B31_F16631_F16531_F16131_F16231_F16331_F16731_F16D31_F16F31_F16E
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 ->
51_F17251_F17351_F16E51_F16F51_F17051_F17151_F16451_F16551_F16651_F16751_F16851_F16951_F16A51_F16B51_F16C51_F16D55_F30555_F30755_F30F55_F31055_F31155_F30655_F31255_F31455_F31355_F30855_F30955_F30A55_F30B55_F31D55_F32055_F31F55_F31555_F31655_F31755_F31855_F31955_F31A55_F31B55_F31C55_F31E55_F30C55_F32155_F30D55_F30E55_F32255_F32355_F32455_F32655_F32555_F32755_F32855_F32955_F32A55_F32B55_F32C55_F32E55_F32D
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_E31171_E312
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_81E3
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_F1AD91_F1AA91_F1AF91_F1A291_F1A191_F1A391_F1A491_F1A591_F1A791_F1AB91_F1AC71_E31171_E31291_F1A691_F1A891_F1A991_F1AE
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_F6A381_F6A481_F6A581_F6A681_F6A781_F6A881_F6A981_F6AA81_F6AB81_F6AC81_F6AD81_F6AE

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