戰

戰 (Kangxi radical 62, 戈+12, 16 strokes, cangjie input 口十戈 (RJI), four-corner 6355₀, composition ⿰單戈)

• 戦 战

• KangXi: page 414, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 11667
• Dae Jaweon: page 757, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1412, character 12
• Unihan data for U+6230

Historical forms of the character 戰
Warring States			Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *tjans) : phonetic 單 (OC *taːn, *djan, *djanʔ, *djans) + semantic 戈 (“halberd”) – battling with a halberd.

Benedict (1972) thinks it a cognate to Tibetan རལ་གྲི (ral gri, “sword”), Mizo râl (“enemy”), both from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *g-raːl ~ *g-ran ~ *ray (“enemy, quarrel, strife, fight, war, sword”), yet Schuessler (2007) thinks it unlikely that Old Chinese *t- corresponds to Tibeto-Burman *r-.

Instead he proposes that "war, battle" is semantically extended from "tremble, fear" and so 戰 (OC *tjans) is cognate with 憚 (OC *daːns) (ibid.); STEDT in turn derives them both from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dar ~ d(u/i)r (“tremble, shiver”).

戰

1. to fight

   • 知可以戰與不可以戰者勝。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     知可以战与不可以战者胜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Art of War, circa 5^th century BCE, translated based on Lionel Giles's version

     Zhī kěyǐ zhàn yǔ bùkěyǐ zhàn zhě shèng. [Pinyin]

     He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

2. war; battle; fight

   • 《春秋》無義戰。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     《春秋》无义战。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     “Chūnqiū” wú yìzhàn. [Pinyin]

     In the Spring and Autumn there was no just war.

   永戰／永战  ―  yǒng zhàn  ―  eternal war

   永戰／永战 [Guangzhou Cantonese]  ―  wing⁵ zin³ [Jyutping]  ―  eternal war

3. to tremble; to shiver

   • 哀公問社於宰我。宰我對曰：「夏后氏以松，殷人以柏，周人以栗，曰使民戰慄。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     哀公问社于宰我。宰我对曰：“夏后氏以松，殷人以柏，周人以栗，曰使民战栗。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Āigōng wèn shè yú Zǎi Wǒ. Zǎi Wǒ duìyuē: “Xiàhòushì yǐ sōng, yīnrén yǐ bǎi, zhōurén yǐ lì, yuē shǐ mín zhànlì.” [Pinyin]

     Duke Ai asked Zai Wo about the altars of the spirits of the land. Zai Wo replied, "The Xia sovereign's clan planted the pine tree about them; the men of the Yin planted the cypress; and the men of the Zhou planted the chestnut tree, meaning thereby to cause the people to tremble in awe."

   • 曰：「羊質而虎皮，見草而說，見豺而戰，忘其皮之虎矣。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     曰：“羊质而虎皮，见草而说，见豺而战，忘其皮之虎矣。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Yang Xiong, Fa Yan (Exemplary Sayings), 9 CE, translated based on Jeffrey S. Bullock's version

     Yuē: “Yángzhì ér hǔpí, jiàn cǎo ér yuè, jiàn chái ér zhàn, wàng qí pí zhī hǔ yǐ.” [Pinyin]

     (Master Yang) said: One who has a sheep's essence and a tiger's skin sees grass and is happy, sees a dhole and shivers; he forgets he is wearing a tiger's skin.

4. a surname

• (to tremble):

• “戰”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 戦)

1. fighting, battle

• Go-on: せん (sen)
• Kan-on: せん (sen)
• Kun: いくさ (ikusa, 戰); たたかい (tatakai, 戰い)^{←たたかひ (tatakafi, historical)}; たたかう (tatakau, 戰う)^{←たたかふ (tatakafu, historical)}; おののき (ononoki, 戰き)^{←をののき (wononoki, historical)}; おののく (ononoku, 戰く)^{←をののく (wononoku, historical)}; そよぎ (soyogi, 戰ぎ); そよぐ (soyogu, 戰ぐ); そよがす (soyogasu, 戰がす); わななく (wananaku, 戰く)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [전]

Wikisource 戰 (eumhun 싸울 전 (ssaul jeon))

1. Hanja form^? of 전 (“fight”).

• 전쟁 (戰爭, jeonjaeng, “war”)
• 전술 (戰術, jeonsul, “tactics”)

戰: Hán Việt readings: chiến[1][2][3][4][5]
戰: Nôm readings: chiến[1][2], chén[1], chuyến[2]

1. chữ Hán form of chiến (“war, conflict”).