Character | Composition | Variants | Reading | Meaning | Hanyu | Kangxi | Cihai |
男 | 田+2 | 侽 | nán ㄋㄢˊ | male, man; son; baron; surname | v4,p2529#05 | p.759#02 | p.912r1c02 |
子 | 子+0 | 㜽 𢀈 𢀉 𡐫 𣕓 只 | zǐ ㄗˇ | Child, heir. Refers to both sons and daughters. / Love, charity. / Respectful term for a man. / People in general. / Fourth of the five levels of nobility. / First of the twelve earthly branches of the zodiac. | v2,p1006#06 | p.277#01 | p.395r1c01 |
先 | 儿+4 | | xiān ㄒㄧㄢ | first, former, previous | v1,p0267#02 | p.124#05 | p.134r3c02 |
生 | 生+0 | 𤯓 | shēng ㄕㄥ | life, living, lifetime; birth | v4,p2575#01 | p.754#26 | p.906r5c03 |
为 | 火+5 | 爲 为 | wéi ㄨㄟˊ | Create, make. / Build, construct. / Do. / Plant, grow. / Govern. / Research, study. / Serve as. / Change into, become. / As, in the role of. / Count as, be considered as. / Called, named. / Expresses judgement: is. / Make, cause (to). / Have. / Take part in. / Write, author. / Connective: if. / Particle used in the middle of a sentence to move forward the object. / Modal particle used at the end of a sentence to express a rhetorical question. | v3,p2198#11 | p.669#10 | p.844r4c03 |
| | | wèi ㄨㄟˋ | Help, assist. / Preposition: for, on behalf of. / Preposition: by (passive). / Preposition: because of, due to. / Preposition: with, together with. / Connective: because. / Say. / False, fake. | | | |
兄 | 儿+3 | | xiōng ㄒㄩㄥ | elder brother | v1,p0266#04 | p.123#09 | p.133r5c02 |
后 | 彳+6 | 𨒥 𢔏 后 | hòu ㄏㄡˋ | Behind, to the rear of. / To be left behind. / Later in time. / Future. / Descendents, offspring. | v2,p0822#03 | p.366#18 | p.511r2c01 |
弟 | 弓+4 | 𠂖 𢦢 | dì ㄉㄧˋ | Sequence, order. / Younger brother. / Younger sister. / Late. / But, only. | v1,p0244#10 | p.357#17 | p.501r1c02 |
| | | tì ㄊㄧˋ | Respect one's elders. | | | |
| | | tuí ㄊㄨㄟˊ | See 弟靡. | | | |