做zuò

做

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 做 (zuò, "to do, to make") appears identical in simplified and traditional writing — a rare case where no change was needed. The character combines the person radical 亻 with 故, the same component meaning "ancient," together suggesting a person carrying out an action or serving a purpose.

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Shuowen

做 (zuò), meaning "to do" or "to make," combines the person radical 亻 with the element 古, which in ancient contexts carried the meaning of "to act" or "cause." In oracle bone inscriptions, the figure of a person with hands raised or holding an implement depicted the act of working or performing a task. The character evolved by pairing the human element (representing deliberate action) with the phonetic 古, together capturing the sense of purposeful human activity.

Pinyin

zuò· HSK 1

做zuò

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin