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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

東

dōng
east
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 木
  • 8 strokes

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Origin

Pictogram (象形): a pictogram of a full 橐 (OC *tʰˤak) tied at both ends. It is the original form of 重: forms with a human figure gave rise to 重 (OC *droŋ;droŋʔ;droŋh), while forms without it gave rise to 東 (OC *tˤoŋ).

Interpreted in the Shuowen Jiezi as an ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意) the sun (日) rising behind a tree (木). According to Allan (1991) p. 47-50, the character represents the Fu Sang tree. However, the original form is rather different, hence any interpretation tied to a tree is most likely a folk etymology.

See the top component of 曹 in the original version. See also 柬, 熏, 西 and 鹵/卤.

Cognate with Chepang थोङ्सा (thoŋ‑, “lighten; be bright”) and Chepang थोङ्ह (thoŋh, “awake time (as opposed to dream time)”) (Schuessler, 2007). Perhaps related to or influenced by 暾 (OC *tʰuːn, “rising sun”).

* (unit of time):

*: From the given name of Chinese businessman Liu Qiangdong, who was mocked by Chinese netizens after details from his 2018 sexual assault case revealed the encounter lasted only two minutes.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

Related: Chepang थोङ्सा, Chepang थोङ्ह

Words built on it: 重, 量, 東西

Meanings

character
  1. east
  2. host
  3. landlord; owner
  4. side
  5. Korea
  6. (telegraphy) the first day of a month

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

東：動也。从木。官溥說：从日在木中。凡東之屬皆从東。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 日出的一方。與西相對。 例：東半球、東西南北
  2. 主人。古時主位在東，賓位在西，所以稱主人為「東」。 例：房東、店東、東家
  3. 請客出錢的人。 例：今天我作東，請大家吃飯。
  4. 姓。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 東 was written 字形演變

  1. 東 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 東 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 東 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 東 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 東 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 東 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 東