Dong Chinese dictionary

gǔn

Gun, mythical father of Yu the Great

fishing line

Depicts a hand (又) holding a fishing line (玄) while catching a fish (魚), now written as 綸. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

魚 Iconic component

yú

fish

玄 Iconic component

xuán

black

Depicts a fishing line.

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

又 Iconic component

yòu

(hand), again

Depicts a hand.

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

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

gǔn

giant fish; father of the emperor Yu

Gǔn

Gun, mythical father of Yu the Great 大禹[DàYǔ]

Sources

季旭昇《說文新證》p.821