史shǐ

史

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 史 (shǐ, "history") remains unchanged from traditional — originally depicting a hand holding a recording tablet, it captures the ancient role of the scribe who chronicles events. This pictographic root gives rise to meanings of "record" and "official" in characters like 吏 (official) and 事 (matter).

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Shuowen

史. The oracle bone shows a hand (又) gripping a rectangular tablet, the ancient equivalent of a notebook, symbolizing the act of recording. This image gave rise to the meaning 'scribe' or 'record', and because the scribe preserved events, the character later came to denote 'history'.

Pinyin

shǐ· HSK 2

史shǐ

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin