Dong Chinese dictionary

qián

go forward

washing feet

Original form of 前. Depicts feet (止) being washed in a basin (凡). The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止 Iconic component

zhǐ

(foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

凡 Iconic component

fán

all

Depicts a basin. Modern form is unrelated to 舟.

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 凡 than it was in ancient scripts.

Evolution

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

qián

go forward

Component uses

Sound component in 1 character (1 verified)

Sources