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聪cōng

Character evolution

聪

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Shuowen

聪 (cōng) is formed with the radical 耳 (ear) on the left and the phonetic component 囱 on the right, the latter originally depicting a window or an opening that lets sound in; in oracle bone inscriptions, the combination signified sharp hearing, hence the original meaning of keen or acute hearing, which by extension came to denote mental sharpness or cleverness. The character thus writes the concept of intelligence through the metaphor of a well-attuned ear.

Pinyin

cōng· HSK 1