lǐ
reason
Original meaning:
cut jade
Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.
Evolution
Bronze script
Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
lǐ
reason, logic; manage; texture; grain (of wood); inner essence; intrinsic order; reason; logic; truth; science; natural science (esp. physics); to manage; to pay attention to; to run (affairs); to handle; to put in order; to tidy up
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*m(ə).rəʔ | liX | lǐ | cut jade; regulate |
*m(ə).rəʔ | liX | lǐ | reason; principle |
Statistics
HSK level 6
Appears in 95.4669% of movies
200th most common character in movies
89th most common character in books
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 11 |
Unicode | U+7406 |
Shuowen | “理，治玉也。从玉，里聲。” |
Sources
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