铁

The Chinese character 铁 (tiě) for "iron" is composed of two parts: the radical 金 (jīn) for "metal" on the left, and the phonetic component 銕 (tiè) on the right. The radical 金 indicates the semantic category of the character, while the phonetic component 銕 provides a clue to its pronunciation.The original form of the character 铁 was 銕, which was first used in the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). The character 銕 was composed of the radical 金 and the phonetic component 頁 (yè), which is a pictograph of a person's head and shoulders. The character 頁 was used to represent the sound [tiè], and it was later simplified to 銕.In the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), the character 铁 was created as a simplified form of 銕. The character 铁 is composed of the radical 金 and the phonetic component 銕, which is a variant of the character 頁. The character 铁 has the same pronunciation as 銕, but it is easier to write.The character 铁 is used in a variety of words related to iron, such as 铁匠 (tiějiang) for "blacksmith", 铁器 (tiěqì) for "ironware", and 铁丝 (tiěsī) for "iron wire". The character 铁 is also used in some idioms, such as 铁杵磨成针 (tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn) for "perseverance can overcome any obstacle".