圣shèng

圣

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Simplified · Today

繁体

Traditional Chinese

聖 (shèng, "holy, sacred") combines 耳 (ear) and 王 (king) — the oracle bones show a king with an enormous ear, the one who hears heaven's will, hence "saint." The simplified 圣 discards the ear entirely, as if holiness needs no divine listener. It persists in compounds of devotion: 圣诞 (Christmas), 圣经 (scripture), 神圣 (sacred), 圣人 (saint), 朝圣 (pilgrimage), 圣殿 (temple). The traditional form keeps the listening king — the sage who hears the gods still speaks from every stroke.

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Shuowen

圣. The oracle bone 圣 shows a person (亻) with an exceptionally large ear (often accompanied by a mouth), indicating someone who listens to the heavens or possesses extraordinary perception; the ear component later became the phonetic element while the person radical retained the sense of a wise or holy figure. This visual of a supersized ear conveys the ancient belief that a sage (聖) hears the divine will, hence the modern meaning of “holy, sacred, saintly.”

Pinyin

shèng· HSK 2

圣shèng

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin