天tiān

天

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Simplified Chinese (簡體). 天 (tiān, "sky, heaven") remains unchanged from its traditional form — the ancient pictograph once showed a figure with an enormous head, representing a person standing beneath the vast heavens above. It appears as a component in characters like 奏 (present), 吞 (swallow), 昊 (vast sky) and 歪 (crooked), where its meaning of "above" or "heaven" often influences the character's sense.

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Shuowen

天 is formed by adding a horizontal stroke above the figure of a person (大), emphasizing the head and signifying the heavens above; the original meaning is sky, heaven. The top stroke represents the sky, the lower part is the person, together indicating the great above. This composition arises from the ancient perception of the sky as the lofty realm that stands above humanity.

Pinyin

tiān· HSK 1

天tiān

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin