国guó

国

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Simplified · Today

繁体

Traditional Chinese

國 (guó, "country, nation") evolved from an early pictograph of a territory enclosed by a border and defended by weapons — the 戈 inside the 囗 literally meant "a domain under arms." The simplified form 国, though it loses the weapon, retains the essential idea of a bounded space, and has been the standard on the mainland since the 1950s. As a radical, it appears in characters relating to governance and territory: 域 (region), 圈 (circle), 圖 (map).

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Shuowen

国. In oracle bone inscriptions, 国 appears as a square (口) representing a city wall, with an inner element that later became the phonetic component 或; the combination originally depicted a fortified settlement, a “domain” ruled by a king. The outer enclosure emphasizes the idea of a bounded territory, and the later addition of 王 (king) inside reinforced the notion of a sovereign realm, giving the modern character its meaning of “state” or “country.”

Pinyin

guó· HSK 1

国guó

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin