著

The character has the radical 艹 (grass radical) on top and 者 (person) beneath.

Originally, the character was written with 竹 (bamboo) on top of 者 — the same form as 箸 (“chopsticks, 저”).

During the Later Han dynasty, Xu Shen (許愼) wrote in the Shuowen Jiezi using the form 箸 (still in seal script form). By that time, however, in clerical script (隸書 lìshū) the modern 著 form had already developed — and later the form 着 also appeared.

─── Similar shape characters ───

Originally, 著 and 着 were the same character, but by convention they have been separated:

著 is used for the reading “jeo” (“to appear”);

着 is used for the reading “chak” (“to attach”).

China and Japan follow the same practice.

In Korean hanja, the bottom component 者 is written with an additional 丶 stroke above 日, which is the form found in the historical Kangxi dictionary.

Originally, 著 and 着 were the same character, but by convention they have been separated:

著 is used for the reading “jeo” (“to appear”);

着 is used for the reading “chak” (“to attach”).

China and Japan follow the same practice.