Understanding begins with distinctions.

Four layers, kept visible.

Characters live in words.

Mandarin readings are attached to senses and word examples. 行 in 銀行 / 银行 is háng; in 旅行 it is xíng. Simplified and traditional forms are separate encoded records. A query for 发 exposes 發 and 髮 rather than choosing a history for you.

The interface uses English explanations. Pronunciation and interface language are distinct from script choice. Traditional text uses a Taiwan-oriented Noto Serif subset; simplified text uses the SC subset. These are modern typefaces, not historical specimens.

Read the historical account as an argument.

The first research pass directly consulted character entries in the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Multi-function Chinese Character Database, supplemented by identified Taiwan Ministry of Education entries for specific modern forms and readings. CUHK often names specialist scholarship. Unless the source register says otherwise, those underlying books and articles have not been read independently for this edition.

The Shuowen Jiezi is a historical source with its own period and interpretive limits. An explanation quoted from it is attributed, not automatically presented as the conclusion of modern paleography. We do not invent an oracle-bone form, fill a missing stage, or date a character’s invention from the date of an artifact.

Historical images remain at the source. The History lens is a structured view of attributed interpretations and modern forms. It does not yet supply a specimen timeline with dated primary evidence. See the release’s open research items.

Understand each connection.

Indexed under means a dictionary classification. Contains this modern shape means graphical containment. Has a phonetic component means an attributed historical role in the named graph. An editorial topic associates a specific present-day sense with an idea; it does not claim common origin.

Direct assertions and computed paths remain separate. The nested-component view explains each path. Nodes stay in curated positions; their distance is not a historical date or a measure of pronunciation similarity.

What “source-checked” means here.

The cited historical statements were compared with the actually consulted entries. Selected lexical spellings and readings were checked against a retained CC-CEDICT snapshot. Original example sentences received an editorial check. This work was AI-assisted. No independent expert or native-speaker review is claimed.

Review dates and unresolved tasks belong to records, not decorative confidence scores. Further scholarly treatments, dated specimen records, and independent linguistic review are priorities for the next edition.

A quiet, local reading experience.

Core portraits and citation links are static HTML. Search and exploration run in your browser. zimai does not send queries or exploration history to an external language service. Theme preference, up to 24 saved entries, and up to six recent searches are stored on your device. Recent searches can be cleared beside the search field. The current exploration trail lasts for this page session. Sources open in a separate tab; deep links preserve the atlas focus, lens and comparison pins.

WCAG 2.2 AA informs headings, focus states, contrast targets, keyboard access, reduced motion, and diagram alternatives. Actual conformance is not yet claimed: browser and assistive-technology verification remain open. Read the standard.

Corrections are part of the work.

For a substantive correction, identify the character, sense or relationship; quote the claim being challenged; and give a checkable source and locator. Keep the original and replacement claims in the editorial history. This foundation has no submission backend: corrections can be supplied to the project owner with the page URL.