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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

觀

/ku̯än⁵⁵/
to observe; to watch; to view; to see
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 7
  • radical 見
  • 25 strokes

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Origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *koːn, *koːns): phonetic 雚 (OC *koːns) + semantic 見 (“see”).

“To watch; to observe” (Pronunciation 1) > “watchtower; platform; temple” (Pronunciation 2).

Schuessler (2007) connects it with 侯 (OC *ɡoː, “target”) and 候 (OC *ɡoːs, “to watch; to be on the lookout for; to wait”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • soundChinese雚 “original form of 鸛／鹳 (guàn, “stork; heron”)”
  • meaningChinese見 “to see”
    • componentChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
    • componentChinese卩 “kneeling person”

Meanings

character
  1. to observe; to watch; to view; to see
  2. to observe closely; to scrutinise; to investigate
  3. to read; to peruse
  4. to display; to show
  5. to visit; to go sightseeing
  6. to play; to enjoy

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

觀：諦視也。从見雚聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 道教的廟宇。 例：道觀
  2. 六十四卦之一。坤（☷）下巽（☴）上。象先王教化風行於世之意。

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

How 觀 was written 字形演變

  1. 觀 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 觀 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 觀 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 觀 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 觀 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 觀 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
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 觀