微

Originally, it also carried the sense “to conceal, hidden.” Today it is used for both “minute” and “hidden.”

The character combines 彳 (“to step slowly”) and 𢼸 [⿰⿳山一几攵] (“small, mi”), forming ⿲彳⿳山一几攵.

Originally, 𢼸 meant “small,” while 微 meant “to conceal.”

When 𢼸 fell out of use, 微 absorbed both meanings.

According to Shuowen Jiezi, 𢼸 was formed from 人 (“person”), 攴 (“to strike”), and 豈 (“how, kai”).

But analysis of ancient scripts shows instead that it derived from 髟 (“long hair”) combined with 攴, depicting “hitting fine strands of hair,” hence “small.”

During the Small Seal Script period, the forms of 髟 and 𢼸 diverged so much that their relation became unrecognizable.

Historical Forms:

Even after Small Seal Script, 微 did not stabilize.

In Tang-dynasty regular script, the most common form was 𢕄 [⿲彳⿳山一丩攵], not the present one.

The lower middle part was sometimes written with 耳 (“ear”) or 夕 (“evening”).

Later, Ganlu Zishu (干祿字書) standardized the inside component as 几, while Zihui (字彙) gave the variant with 儿 as the head form.

Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典) followed Zihui.

Regional Standards:

Unicode does not encode these different forms separately; distinction depends on font.

Korea: Hanzi fonts generally follow Kangxi Dictionary forms, but for 微 specifically they often adopt the 几 form. Derived characters may lack consistency across fonts. The official Supreme Court’s Table of Characters for Personal Names also prescribes the 几 form.

Mainland China: writes the inside with 几.

Hong Kong & Taiwan: write it with 儿.

Japan (Shinjitai): tends to omit the 一, simplifying into a shape like 兀. However, for characters outside the official set, there is no strict standard, so derived characters may not follow the same style.

䉠, 黴, 徽, 徵, 鰴, 幑, 覹, 溦