朝

cháo, zhāo

HSK 2.0 5

HSK 3.0 5

Rank #593

Definitions

zhāo (noun) morning

cháo (noun,verb) imperial court; dynasty; to face towards

Cháo (noun) Korea

Etymology

Depicts the early part of morning when the sun (日) can still be seen on the horizon between blades of grass (屮), and the moon (月) is still in the sky. Based on the original meaning "early morning". The meaning later shifted to "morning audience at court", "facing", "royal court", and "dynasty".

Semantic: 月 Phonetic: 龺

About

The character "朝" finds its origin in a conceptual depiction of the sun ascending above vegetation while the moon remains visible, a composite image meant to capture the early morning period. Its structural form integrates components suggesting both the emergence of daylight and the fading lunar presence, firmly establishing its primary reference to dawn. This temporal meaning naturally extended to the imperial court sessions that convened at morning hours, leading the character to denote the court itself and, by further association, the era of a ruler's governance, thus acquiring the sense of a dynasty. Alongside these developments, the character also took on a directional meaning, conveying the idea of facing or orienting towards something, a usage likely influenced by the orientation of court proceedings or the rising sun's path. This progression from denoting a time of day to encompassing institutional and spatial concepts illustrates the character's semantic expansion within the language.