之

之 (radical 4, 丿+3, 4 strokes in traditional Chinese and Korean, 3 strokes in mainland China and Japanese, cangjie input 戈弓人 (INO), four-corner 3030₇, composition ⿳丶㇇乀)

• 乏, 芝, 𠯣, 㝎, 㞫, 𡘕, 𬔱, 椘, 𡭿, 𪦆, 𩖳, 𢾘, 𬼛, 𧉌, 𫩝, 𭾣, 𭓆, 𫡛, 𮗧, 𪢇

• し (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)
• シ (Katakana character derived from Man'yōgana)

Wikidata

• KangXi: page 82, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 125
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 43, character 1
• Unihan data for U+4E4B

Historical forms of the character 之
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu Slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Oracle bone script j14766 j14767 j14768 j14769 j14770 j14771 j14772 j14773 j14774 j14775 j14776 j14777 j14778 j14779 j14780 j14781 j14782 j14783 j14784 j14785 j14786 j14787 j14788 j14789 j14790 j14791 j14792 j14793 j14794 j14795 j14796 j14797 j14798 j14799 j14800 j14801 j14802 j14803 j14804 j14805 j14806 j14807 j14808 j14809 j14810 j14816 j14817 j14818 j14819 j14820 j14821 j14822 j14823 j14824 j14825 j14826 j14827 j14828 j14829 j14830 j14831 j14832 j14833 j14834 j14835 j14836 j14837 j14838 j14839 j14840 j14841 j14842 j14843 j14844 j14845 j14846 j14847 j14848 j14849 Bronze inscriptions b09079 b09080 b09081 b09082 b09083 b09084 b09085 b09086 b09087 b09088 b09089 b09090 b09091 b09092 b09093 b09094 b09095 b09096 b09097 b09098 b09099 b09100 b09101 b09102 b09103 b09104 b09105 b09106 b09107 b09108 b09109 b09110 b09111 b09112 b09113 b09114 b09115 b09116 b09117 b09118 b09119 b09120 b09121 b09122 b09123 b09124 b09125 b09126 b09127 b09128 b09129 b09130 b09131 b09132 b09133 b09134 b09135 b09136 b09137 b09138 b09139 b09140 b09141 b09142 b09143 b09144 b09145 b09146 b09147 b09148 b09149 b09150 b09151 b09152 b09153 b09154 b09155 b09156 b09157 b09158 b09159 b09160 b09161 b09162 b09163 b09164 b09165 b09166 b09167 b09168 b09169 b09170 b09171 b09172 b09173 b09174 b09175 b09176 b09177 b09178 b09179 b09180 b09181 b09182 Small seal script s04434 Transcribed ancient scripts L30055 L30056 L30048 L30049 L30050 L30051 L30052 L30053 L30054 L01016 L01017 L01018 L01019 L01020 L01021 L01022 L01023 L01024 L01025 L01026 L01027 L01028 L01029 L01030 L01031 L01032 L01033 L01034 L01035 L01036 L01037 L01038 L01039 L01040 L01041 L01042 L01043 L01044 L00998 L00999 L01000 L01001 L01002 L01003 L01004 L01005 L01006 L01007 L01008 L01009 L01010 L01011 L01012 L01013 L01014 L01015
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 止 (“foot”) + 一 (“the beginning place”) – meaning “to go”.

之

1. (literary) Indicates that the previous word has possession of the next one.

   生命之道  ―  shēngmìng zhī dào  ―  the way of life/life's way

   美國之聲 / 美国之声  ―  Měiguó zhī shēng  ―  The Voice of America/America's voice

2. Indicates that the previous word modifies the next one.
   • 尺寸之功  ―  chǐcùnzhīgōng  ―  a minor contribution
3. ^† This.

   • 之子于歸。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     之子于归。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, circa 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zhī zǐ yú guī. [Pinyin]

     This girl is to get married.

4. ^† To sprout, to come about.

   • 如語焉而未之然。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     如语焉而未之然。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, circa 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

     Rú yù yān érwèi zhīrán. [Pinyin]

     As though you have said something to your parents but their reply has not yet come.

5. ^† To go.

   • 吾欲之楚。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Wú yù zhī chǔ. [Pinyin]

     I want to go to Chu.

6. (literary) The third-person pronoun: him, her, it, them, when it appears in a non-subject position in the sentence.

   • 好一一聽之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     好一一听之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

     Hào yīyī tīng zhī. [Pinyin]

     He preferred to listen to them one-by-one.

   • 我們不能對此事聽之任之。 [MSC, trad.]
     我们不能对此事听之任之。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒmen bùnéng duì cǐ shì tīngzhīrènzhī. [Pinyin]

     We cannot pass this matter by without protest.

   • 甘橘，大厘城有之，其味酸。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Tang Dynasty, Fan Chuo, Manshu, chapter 7, part 7

     Gānjú, Dàlí chéng yǒu zhī, qí wèi suān. [Pinyin]

     Dali City has sweet tangerines, but their flavour is sour.