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 () can still be seen on the horizon between blades of grass (), and the moon () 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: Phonetic:

About

The character "朝" originally represented the concept of morning through a pictorial combination of elements, with its left component depicting the sun rising amidst vegetation and its right component meaning moon. This structure reflects the early understanding of dawn when both celestial bodies are visible in the sky. From its core meaning of morning, the term evolved to denote the morning audience held with a ruler, a practice common in ancient courts, which subsequently led to its use in referring to the imperial court itself and, by extension, the ruling dynasty.

Etymology Hide

Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Oracle etymology image
Oracle (~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Warring States (~400 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Warring States (~300 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

大家早上好。

Dàjiā zǎoshang hǎo.

Good morning, everyone.

着东方走去。

Tā cháozhe dōngfāng zǒu qù.

He walked towards the east.

这个房间窗户南。

Zhège fángjiān chuānghu cháo nán.

The windows of this room face south.

我们着目标努力奋斗。

Wǒmen cháozhe mùbiāo nǔlì fèndòu.

We strive hard towards our goal.

这座建筑建于明早期。

Zhè zuò jiànzhú jiàn yú Míngcháo zǎoqī.

This building was built in the early Ming Dynasty.

霞预示着今天天气不错。

Zhāoxiá yùshìzhe jīntiān tiānqì búcuò.

The morning glow indicates good weather today.

他始终着自己的梦想前进。

Tā shǐzhōng cháozhe zìjǐ de mèngxiǎng qiánjìn.

He always advances towards his own dream.

历史课上我们学习了多个代。

Lìshǐ kè shang wǒmen xuéxí le duō gè cháodài.

In history class, we studied several dynasties.