影yǐng

影

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简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 影 (yǐng) is identical in simplified and traditional — a pictograph that evolved from an ancient depiction of a person with a shadow, combining the phonetic element 景 and the radical 彡 to represent light and shade. It serves as a key component in words like 电影 (film) and 影子 (shadow), and it appears as a component in characters such as 彩

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Shuowen

Shadow. The character combines 日 (sun) with 亰 (a high place, like a tower) below, and 彡 (rays) above—depicting the sun casting its light and shadow from a height. The original meaning is the dark silhouette cast by an object blocking sunlight, or the reflection one sees. It is written this way to picture the interplay of light streaming from above a tall object, the streaming rays (彡) representing both the light and the shadow it produces.

Pinyin

yǐng· HSK 1

影yǐng

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin