shāng
commerce, business
Origin unclear. Composed of 辛 (chisel) and 丙 (pedestal) with 口 being later added as a distinguishing component for the name of an ancient kingdom.
Components
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*s-taŋ | syang | shāng | musical note |
*s-taŋ | syang | shāng | (place name) |
*s-taŋ | syang | shāng | estimate; business; trader |
Statistics
HSK level 1
Appears in 49.5275% of movies
832nd most common character in movies
402nd most common character in books
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 11 |
Unicode | U+5546 |
Shuowen | “商,从外知內也。从,章省聲。,古文商。,亦古文商。,籀文商。” |
Sources
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