蓟 meaning and stroke order
Cirsium, thistle; surname
How to write 蓟, stroke by stroke
13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
Meaning of 蓟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cirsium
- thistle
How 蓟 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Plant.
艹 gives the meaning and 鱼 hints at the sound.
Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.
How to remember 蓟
The grass radical 艹 on top marks a plant, and 鱼 with the knife 刂 below suggests something prickly, like a fish full of sharp bones. Picture a spiky plant that pricks you like fish bones: the thistle 蓟 (jì).
蓟 mostly appears in plant names, especially 大蓟 (dàjì) and 小蓟 (xiǎojì), two thistles used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also a surname and an old name for the area around Beijing, kept in place names like 蓟州 (Jìzhōu) in Tianjin. Example: 小蓟可以止血。(Xiǎojì kěyǐ zhǐxuè.) Small thistle can stop bleeding.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes mix up 蓟 with 鲫 (jì, crucian carp). Both share the jì sound and contain 鱼, but 鲫 is a fish with 鱼 on the left, while 蓟 is a plant with 艹 on top. Also do not forget the knife 刂 on the right of 鱼 in 蓟.
Questions about 蓟
How many strokes are in 蓟?
蓟 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 蓟 mean?
蓟 (jì) means cirsium, thistle; surname.
How do you pronounce 蓟?
蓟 is pronounced jì, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 蓟?
The radical of 蓟 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 蓟 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 蓟?
The traditional form of 蓟 is 薊. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 蓟 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 蓟 a common word in everyday Chinese?
Not very. Most people meet it in herbal medicine, botany, or place names such as 蓟州 (Jìzhōu). In casual speech it rarely appears on its own.
What does 蓟 have to do with Beijing?
蓟 (Jì) was the name of an ancient city in the Beijing area, the capital of the state of Yan. Because of this, 蓟 still appears in local names and historical references to the region.