源etymfun
About

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

進

jìn
to advance; to move forward
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 辵
  • 12 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow
Press enter or space to select a node. You can then use the arrow keys to move the node around. Press delete to remove it and escape to cancel.
Press enter or space to select an edge. You can then press delete to remove it or escape to cancel.

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

Origin

The character is an ideogrammic compound consisting of 辵 (to walk for a while and be still for a while) and 隹 (short-tailed bird). The composition implies moving forward, as a bird can only walk forward and not backward. The Shuowen Jiezi provides an alternative interpretation, describing it as a phono-semantic compound where 辵 is the semantic component and an abbreviated 閵 serves as the phonetic component (reconstructed as *ʔslins).

In the Shuowen Jiezi, the character is glossed as 登也 (to ascend). The component 辵 is composed of 彳 (to walk slowly) and 止 (foot), while the phonetic component 閵 is composed of 門 (gate, door, or entrance) and 隹 (short-tailed bird). While the origin is noted as unknown by Schuessler (2007), the character shows similarities to the Burmese word ဆန်း (hcan:), meaning to be new or to begin a new year or season.

Attested forms of the character appear in oracle, bronze, chu, seal, and regular scripts.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「進」字的構成包含「辵」與「隹」兩個部分。「辵」意指走走停停，由「彳」（緩慢行走）與「止」（腳）組成；「隹」則代表短尾鳥。關於其構造，有一種說法將其視為會意字，認為鳥類只能向前行走而非後退，故以此象徵「向前」。

《說文解字》則將其解釋為「登也」，並指出此字從「辵」，「閵」是其省去的聲符。此外，也有研究指出此字可能與緬甸語中的 ဆန်း（意為「新；開始新的年歲或季節」）具有同源關係。該字在甲骨文、金文、楚文字、小篆及楷書中皆有記載。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • ideaChinese辵 “to walk for a while and be still for a while”
    • ideaChinese彳 “to walk slowly”
    • ideaChinese止 “foot”
  • ideaChinese隹 “short-tailed bird”
  • soundChinese閵 “name of a bird”
    • componentChinese門 “gate; door; entrance; opening; portal (Classifier: 扇 m mn; 道 m c; 度 c; 條／条 c; 隻／只 c; 片 mn)”

Related: Burmese ဆန်း

Words built on it: 進行

Wiktionary etymology text

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 辵 (“walk”) + 隹 (“short-tail bird”). A bird can only walk forward, not backward, hence implying "forward". Shuowen Jiezi interprets it as

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ʔslins): semantic 辵 + abbreviated phonetic 閵 (OC *rins).

Unknown (Schuessler, 2007). Note similarities to Burmese ဆန်း (hcan:, “to be new; to begin a new year or season”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to advance; to move forward
  2. to enter; to go into; to come into
  3. into; in
  4. to receive; to admit; to recruit
  5. to give; to offer (advice)
  6. to score (a goal)

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

進：登也。从辵，閵省聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 向上或向前移動。與「退」相對。 例：前進、進步、進軍
  2. 從外面到裡面。與「出」相對。 例：進門、非請勿進
  3. 推荐。 例：進賢
  4. 呈獻、奉上。 例：進貢、進言
  5. 收入、買入。 例：進帳、進貨、日進斗金

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

How 進 was written 字形演變

  1. 進 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 進 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 進 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 進 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 進 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

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 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: 進