玄
deep black, profound
At a glance · 玄
Evolution of the glyph
Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.
Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE
⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.
玄字甲骨文象纠结的丝缕之形，本义为赤黑色；小篆线条化，楷作『玄』。早期形体强调幽暗深奥之意。
What the sketch shows
Shuowen Jiezi
胡涓切。幽遠也。黑而有赤色者爲玄。象幽而入覆之也。凡玄之屬皆从玄。。古文玄。。— 《说文解字》
Origins & notes
玄本义为黑中带红之色，引申为深奥、幽远。
Structure
玄从字形看为会意，象丝缕缠绕之形，以示幽深之色与义。
At a glance
Pinyinxuán
Radical玄
Strokes5
UnicodeU+7384
Character type会意
Theme颜色
Six languages, one character
Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.
English
deep black, profound
Xuan originally meant a deep black-red color and came to mean profound and abstruse.
Français
noir profond
Xuan signifiait à l'origine un noir tirant sur le rouge et a pris le sens de profond et abstrus.
Español
negro profundo
Xuan originalmente significaba un negro tirando a rojo y pasó a significar profundo y abstruso.
العربية
أسود عميق
شوان كان في الأصل يعني أسود مائلاً إلى الحمرة ثم أصبح يعني عميقاً وغامضاً.
Русский
глубокий чёрный
Сюань изначально означал чёрно-красный цвет и приобрёл значение глубокий, таинственный.
Common words
- 玄妙xuán miàomysterious
- 玄武xuán wǔblack tortoise