退

The Chinese character 退 (tuì) is composed of two parts: the radical 辵 (chuò), which represents walking or movement, and the phonetic component 兌 (duì), which represents exchange or trade. The character 退 originally meant "to step back" or "to retreat", but over time it has come to have a wider range of meanings, including "to retire", "to resign", "to decline", and "to refuse".The character 退 is first attested in oracle bone script, the earliest known form of Chinese writing, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC). In oracle bone script, the character 退 is depicted as a person walking away from something, with the radical 辵 representing the person and the phonetic component 兌 representing the direction of movement.The character 退 has undergone several changes in its form over time. In seal script, the character is written with a more complex form, with the radical 辵 and the phonetic component 兌 both being more elaborate. In clerical script, the character is simplified, with the radical 辵 being reduced to a single stroke and the phonetic component 兌 being simplified to a single stroke. In modern Chinese, the character 退 is written in its simplified form, with the radical 辵 being reduced to a single stroke and the phonetic component 兌 being simplified to a single stroke.The character 退 has a rich history and a wide range of meanings, making it an important character for HSK learners to master.