羲 - Dong Chinese dictionary

xī

ancient emperor

Original meaning:

sacrificial slaughter

Depicts a weapon (我) slaughtering a pig for the purpose of sacrificing an animal for offering. The 我 component was later reanalyzed into phonetic component 義 and the component depicting the slaughtered pig was later reanalyzed as meaning component 兮. Based on the original meaning "sacrificial slaughter", now written as 犧. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

義 Sound component

yì

justice

Originally 我. Depicts a weapon. The 羊 (sheep) component was added later reanalyzing this component into phonetic component 義.

兮 Meaning component

xī

exclamatory particle

Originally depicted a slaughtered pig. Later reanalyzed into meaning component 兮.

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

羲

xī

ancient emperor; breath, vapor

羲

Xī

same as Fuxi 伏羲[FúXī], a mythical emperor; surname Xi

Most common words with 羲

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	伏羲	Fuxi or Fu Hsi, legendary Chinese emperor, trad. 2852-2738 BC, mythical creator of fishing, trapping and writing
	王羲之	Wang Xizhi (303-361), famous calligrapher of Eastern Jin, known as the sage of calligraphy 書聖\|书圣
	羲	surname Xi
	黄宗羲	Huang Zongxi (1610-1695), scholar and writer of the Ming-Qing transition
	伏羲氏	Fuxi or Fu Hsi, legendary Chinese emperor 2852-2738 BC, mythical creator of fishing, trapping, and writing