部首radical (厂)部件component (rest of character)书写your drawing
Click the character to replay. Press Try drawing to write it yourself.
字源zìyuánEtymology & the Merge
字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight
To understand 历 you have to read the traditional form 歷 first, because the simplified glyph has folded a long history into four strokes. 歷 is built under 厂 (hǎn, a cliff or open shelter) with a doubled 禾 (hé, standing grain) above 止 (zhǐ, a foot). The picture is a foot walking past row after row of grain in the field: to step through, to pass by in sequence, to traverse one thing after another. From that literal walking-through came the core abstract sense: to go through an experience, to pass through time, and then the accumulated record of what has been passed through, which is history.
The simplified 历 keeps the 厂 shelter and replaces the dense interior with 力 (lì, strength; a plow), which also supplies the modern reading. So the simplified glyph reads naturally as a pictophonetic-style compound: 厂 frames the shape while the inner element carries the lì sound. This is a clean example of how simplification often preserved one sound-bearing piece and dropped the rest of a crowded traditional form.
Here is the consequential part. Simplified 历 does not stand in for one traditional character but for two. 歷 (to pass through, to experience, successive, history) is one; 曆 (the calendar, the reckoning of days and seasons) is the other. The two were always close cousins, both pronounced lì and both about the ordered passage of time, and 曆 was essentially 歷 with 日 (rì, sun; day) underneath to mark its specialization in days and dates. When the script was simplified, both collapsed into 历. In traditional writing you still must choose: 歷史 for history, 曆法 for the calendar system.
The character travels across the Sinosphere. In Japanese, 歴 reki gives 歴史 rekishi (history) and 経歴 keireki (career, track record), while the calendar branch survives in 暦 koyomi / reki, as in 西暦 seireki (the Western, that is Gregorian, calendar). Reading 历 well means hearing both branches at once: the lived path walked through, and the formal grid of time laid over it.
两字归一liǎng zì guī yīTwo Traditional Characters, One Simplified Glyph
合并规律 hébìng guīlǜ · One simplified 历 covers two traditional characters歷 → 历 lì , to pass through; to experience; successive; history (the walking-through branch) 曆 → 历 lì , the calendar; the system of reckoning days and seasons (the day-counting branch)
In simplified script both are written 历, so context decides the sense. 历史 lìshǐ , history (from 歷) 经历 jīnglì , to experience; experience (from 歷) 日历 rìlì , calendar; date pad (from 曆) 农历 nónglì , the lunar (agricultural) calendar (from 曆) 历法 lìfǎ , calendar system; the science of the calendar (from 曆)
The shared thread across both branches is ordered, sequential time: a path walked step by step, or a year laid out day by day. One glyph now carries both readings of time, the lived and the counted.
经历jīnglì历 as Lived Experience: Passing Through
经历jīnglìto experience; experience; what one has been through
V 动词 dòngcíN 名词 míngcí
经 jīng (to pass through; warp threads; to undergo) + 历 lì (to go through). The most common everyday word for living through something and for the sum of what one has lived through. As a verb it takes events as objects: you 经历 a war, a hardship, a change. As a noun it names personal experience as accumulated record, close to "the things that have happened to a person."
他经历过很多困难。
Tā jīnglì guò hěn duō kùnnán.
He has been through many hardships.
这是一次难忘的经历。
Zhè shì yī cì nánwàng de jīnglì.
This was an unforgettable experience.
每个人都要经历成长的痛苦。
Měi gè rén dōu yào jīnglì chéngzhǎng de tòngkǔ.
Everyone has to go through the pains of growing up.
辨析 biànxī · 经历 vs 经验
经历 jīnglì is the event itself, the going-through; it can be good, bad, or neutral, and is counted in episodes. 经验 jīngyàn is the know-how distilled from experience, the lesson you keep. You 经历 a failure (the episode) and from it gain 经验 (the wisdom). 工作经历 is your work history (the jobs you held); 工作经验 is your competence on the job (what you learned to do).
历经lìjīngto go through; to undergo (a long or arduous process)
V 动词 dòngcí
历 lì (to pass through) + 经 jīng (to undergo). The same two characters as 经历 in reverse order, but the register and feel differ: 历经 is more literary and emphasizes a long, often difficult passage through many stages. It frequently precedes a number or a list of trials, and it commonly heads a clause describing endurance over time.
这座古桥历经千年依然屹立。
Zhè zuò gǔ qiáo lìjīng qiān nián yīrán yìlì.
This ancient bridge still stands after a thousand years.
After enduring many trials, they finally succeeded.
公司历经三次改革才稳定下来。
Gōngsī lìjīng sān cì gǎigé cái wěndìng xiàlái.
The company only stabilized after going through three rounds of reform.
阅历yuèlìlife experience; seasoned knowledge of the world
N 名词 míngcí
阅 yuè (to read; to review; to inspect) + 历 lì (what one has gone through). The accumulated worldly experience a person builds up over the years: the breadth of life seen and understood, not just events lived but their lessons absorbed. 阅历 implies maturity and judgment that come only with time; it is the kind of experience that makes someone hard to fool.
他年纪轻，但阅历丰富。
Tā niánjì qīng, dàn yuèlì fēngfù.
He is young, but rich in life experience.
阅历越多，看人越准。
Yuèlì yuè duō, kàn rén yuè zhǔn.
The more life experience you have, the better you read people.
历 lì (the passed-through past) + 史 shǐ (the scribe; the written record; chronicle). Together: the accumulated record of what has happened. 历史 is both the events themselves and the discipline that studies them, the school subject, the books, and the long arc of the past all at once. It is one of the highest-frequency abstract nouns in the language and carries enormous cultural weight in a civilization that has kept continuous records for millennia.
文化 wénhuà · Cultural Note
历史 is inseparable from the Chinese self-understanding of being a 文明古国 (wénmíng gǔguó, an ancient civilization). The phrase 五千年历史 (wǔ qiān nián lìshǐ, "five thousand years of history") is a fixed cultural touchstone. The 二十四史 (Èrshísì Shǐ, the Twenty-Four Histories) form the official dynastic record, with 史记 (Shǐjì) by Sima Qian as the founding model.
历来lìláialways; throughout history; from of old up to now
ADV 副词 fùcí
历 lì (passing through time) + 来 lái (coming up to the present). An adverb meaning "all along throughout the past until now," used to assert that something has consistently been the case across the whole span of history. It lends weight and a sense of long-standing tradition to the statement it modifies, and sits before the verb.
辨析 biànxī · 历来 vs 从来
历来 lìlái stresses the long historical span and is often positive or neutral, asserting a consistent tradition. 从来 cónglái more often appears in negative sentences (从来不, "never") and emphasizes "at no point ever." 历来重视 (has always valued) feels institutional; 从来不喝酒 (never drinks) feels personal and absolute.
历代lìdàisuccessive dynasties; through the generations
N 名词 míngcí
历 lì (successive; passing through) + 代 dài (generation; dynasty; era). Refers to the whole sequence of past dynasties or generations taken together: "every dynasty in turn," "successive ages." Common in historical and cultural writing to describe traditions, emperors, scholars, or customs that recur across the long line of Chinese dynasties.
历代帝王都重视水利。
Lìdài dìwáng dōu zhòngshì shuǐlì.
Successive emperors all valued water conservancy.
这首诗被历代文人传诵。
Zhè shǒu shī bèi lìdài wénrén chuánsòng.
This poem has been recited by scholars through the ages.
日历rìlì历 as Calendar: The Reckoning of Days
日历rìlìcalendar; date pad; daily calendar
N 名词 míngcí
日 rì (sun; day) + 历 lì (from 曆, the calendar). The everyday word for a calendar as a physical or digital object: the thing on the wall or in your phone that lists the days. This is the 曆 branch of 历, fully about counting and displaying days. For the tear-off page-a-day kind, the same word applies.
墙上挂着一本日历。
Qiáng shàng guà zhe yī běn rìlì.
A calendar hangs on the wall.
我在日历上标出了重要的日子。
Wǒ zài rìlì shàng biāo chū le zhòngyào de rìzi.
I marked the important days on the calendar.
农历nónglìthe lunar (agricultural) calendar
N 名词 míngcí
农 nóng (agriculture; farming) + 历 lì (calendar). The traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, also called 阴历 yīnlì (the "yin," that is moon-based, calendar). It governs the dates of the Spring Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the 二十四节气 (èrshísì jiéqì, the twenty-four solar terms) that traditionally guided farming. Still in daily use alongside the solar calendar for festivals and birthdays.
The Spring Festival is set according to the lunar calendar.
奶奶过生日用的是农历。
Nǎinai guò shēngrì yòng de shì nónglì.
Grandma uses the lunar calendar for her birthday.
阳历yánglìthe solar (Gregorian) calendar
N 名词 míngcí
阳 yáng (the sun; the yang principle) + 历 lì (calendar). The sun-based calendar, in modern usage the Gregorian calendar used for official and international dates. Also called 公历 gōnglì (the "common," that is internationally standard, calendar). It stands opposite 农历 / 阴历 in the everyday pairing of solar versus lunar reckoning.
今天阳历几号？
Jīntiān yánglì jǐ hào?
What is today's date on the solar calendar?
他的生日阳历和农历不在同一天。
Tā de shēngrì yánglì hé nónglì bù zài tóng yī tiān.
His birthday falls on different days in the solar and lunar calendars.
辨析 biànxī · 历法 the system behind the date历法 lìfǎ is the calendar as a system or science (the rules for intercalating months, fixing solar terms, and aligning sun and moon), whereas 日历 / 农历 / 阳历 name particular calendars in use. Historically, fixing the 历法 was an imperial prerogative: a new dynasty would proclaim its own calendar as a sign of holding the Mandate of Heaven.
成语chéngyǔIdioms & Set Phrases
历历在目lìlì zài mùvivid before the eyes: every detail clear in memory as if still happening历历 lìlì is a reduplication meaning "one by one, distinctly, item by item," the same clarity-of-sequence sense that runs through 历; 在目 zài mù = "before the eyes." The phrase describes a memory so sharp that each scene appears in clear order in the mind's eye. 童年的往事至今历历在目。(The events of childhood are still vivid before my eyes to this day.) Used for cherished memories and for traumatic ones alike, wherever the past refuses to blur.
来历不明láilì bù míngof unknown origin: provenance unclear, background not established来历 láilì = origin, background, where something or someone came from (历 here is the path-walked-through that produced the present state); 不明 bù míng = not clear. Said of a person whose background cannot be verified, or an object whose provenance is suspect. It carries a note of suspicion. 一个来历不明的人在门外徘徊。(A man of unknown background was lingering outside the door.) Common in detective stories, security contexts, and any situation where origins matter.
历久弥新lìjiǔ mí xīngrows better with time: the longer it lasts, the fresher and more valued it becomes历久 lìjiǔ = to pass through a long time, to endure; 弥 mí = all the more, increasingly; 新 xīn = new, fresh. Lit: "having lasted long, all the more new." Said of friendships, classic works, traditions, and well-made things that do not fade but gain in worth as the years accumulate. 这部经典作品历久弥新。(This classic work only grows more valuable with time.) A high compliment, the opposite of something that dates and wears out.
记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image
Picture the traditional 歷: under an open cliff-shelter (厂) stand rows of grain, and a foot (止) walks through them, past one row, then the next, then the next. That single image holds the whole character. To walk through the rows in order is 经历, to live through events. The trail of rows already passed is 历史, the record of what came before. And laying those same rows out as a counted grid of days gives the calendar branch, 曆, day after sun-marked day.
The simplified 历 trades the grain and the foot for 力 (strength, a plow) under the same shelter, but the logic survives: it still takes effort to pass through, season by season, year by year. Keep the two readings linked in your mind. When you see 历史, 经历, 历来, hear the foot walking the path; when you see 日历, 农历, 阳历, hear the days being counted off. One glyph, two ways of measuring the passage of time.
That doubling is itself a lesson about Chinese script. Simplification did not only shrink strokes; in cases like this it merged whole characters, so that 历 now answers to both 歷 and 曆. The walked path and the reckoned year were always neighbors in meaning and identical in sound, and the modern glyph finally houses them together. To know 历 is to hold lived time and counted time in one hand.
相关xiāngguānRelated
Related entries — pages and vocabulary in the neighbourhood of this one