史

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history; annals; title of an official historian in ancient China

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A hand 乂 using a pen to record a history

Components 口乂

history · Heisig RSH #630

口 mouth + tucked under the arm

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
文明小史	Wén míng Xiǎo shǐ	Short History of Civilization, late Qing novel by Li Boyuan 李伯元[Li3 Bo2 yuan2] or Li Baoji…
史学家	shǐ xué jiā	historian
文学史	wén xué shǐ	history of literature
文化史	wén huà shǐ	cultural history
史前古器物	shǐ qián gǔ qì wù	prehistoric artifacts; ancient artifacts
史前人	shǐ qián rén	prehistoric man
科学史	kē xué shǐ	history of science
三国史记	Sān guó shǐ jì	History of Three Kingdoms (Korean: Samguk Sagi), the oldest extant Korean history, compile…
有史以来	yǒu shǐ yǐ lái	since the beginning of history
自然史	zì rán shǐ	natural history (i.e. botany and zoology)
史传小说	shǐ zhuàn xiǎo shuō	historical novel
清代通史	Qīng dài Tōng shǐ	General History of the Qing dynasty, compiled under Xiao Yishan 蕭一山\|萧一山[Xiao1 Yi1 shan1]
史普尼克	Shǐ pǔ ní kè	Sputnik, Soviet artificial Earth satellite; also written 斯普特尼克
国史	guó shǐ	national history; dynastic history
史学	shǐ xué	historiography
地史	dì shǐ	earth history; geological history
新五代史	Xīn Wǔ dài shǐ	Later History of the Five Dynasties (between Tang and Song), nineteenth of the 24 dynastic…
史家	shǐ jiā	historian
太史公	Tài shǐ gōng	Grand Scribe, the title by which Sima Qian 司馬遷\|司马迁[Si1 ma3 Qian1] refers to himself in Rec…
金史	Jīn shǐ	History of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, twenty second of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史[Er4 sh…

These characters use 史 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
史 sound part	shǐ	history, chronicle, annals
驶	shǐ	to drive, to pilot, to ride; fast, quick