当晚
dāng wǎn , dàng wǎn · HSK 7
on that evening
🌙 当 (that/same) + 晚 (evening) = that very evening
当 means 'that' or 'the same,' and 晚 means 'evening' or 'night.' Together they pinpoint a specific evening already mentioned — think of it as 'that night' stamped on a timeline.
当 — small ⺌ + crown 冖 + hand 彐 (simplified from 當: 尚 + 田)
Originally written 當, combining 田 'field' with 尚 as a phonetic. The early sense was 'to match' or 'face' a field of equal value, extended to 'correspond to', 'ought to', and 'serve as'. The simplified form 当 streamlines the upper 尚 component.
晚 — sun 日 + 免 (avoid/phonetic)
晚 combines 日 (sun) as the meaning component with 免 as the phonetic. The sun element signals a time of day, while 免 hints at the pronunciation wǎn. Originally it referred to the late part of the day when the sun is setting, and from there extended to mean 'late' in a general sense.