儉

See also: 俭

Translingual

Traditional	儉
Shinjitai	倹
Simplified	俭

Han character

儉 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+13, 15 strokes, cangjie input 人人一人 (OOMO), four-corner 2828₆, composition ⿰亻僉)

1. temperate, frugal, economical

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 119, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1190
• Dae Jaweon: page 252, character 11
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 226, character 6
• Unihan data for U+5109

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Chinese

trad.		儉
simp.		俭

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 儉
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Small seal script s05807 Transcribed ancient scripts L35511 L18813 L18814 L18815 L18816 L18817 L18818
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).

Characters in the same phonetic series (僉) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
厱	*raːm, *kʰreːm, *kʰlam
歛	*qʰlaːm
臉	*ɡ·reːmʔ, *skʰlam, *kramʔ
醶	*ɡr·reːmʔ, *skʰraːmʔ
鹼	*kreːmʔ, *skʰlam
薟	*ɡ·ram, *ɡ·ramʔ, *qʰram
匳	*ɡ·ram
獫	*ɡ·ram, *ɡ·ramʔ, *ɡ·rams, *qʰramʔ
蘞	*ɡ·ram, *ɡ·ramʔ, *qʰlam
籢	*ɡ·ram
斂	*ɡ·ramʔ, *ɡ·rams
瀲	*ɡ·ramʔ, *ɡ·rams
撿	*ɡ·ramʔ, *kramʔ
羷	*ɡ·ramʔ
殮	*ɡ·rams
簽	*skʰlam
僉	*skʰlam
憸	*skʰlam, *skʰlamʔ, *sqʰlam, *qʰramʔ
譣	*skʰlam, *qʰramʔ
檢	*kramʔ
瞼	*kramʔ
儉	*ɡramʔ
顩	*ŋramʔ, *rlɯmʔ, *kʰrɯmʔ
嬐	*ŋramʔ
嶮	*ŋramʔ, *hŋramʔ
噞	*ŋramʔ, *ŋrams
驗	*ŋrams
險	*qʰramʔ
劒	*kams
劍	*kams
𩏩	*qʰam

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiǎn (jian³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gim⁶
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): khiǎm / khiām

  (Teochew, Peng'im): kiam⁶ / kiêm⁶ / kiang⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiǎn
    • Wade–Giles: chien³
    • Yale: jyǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jean
    • Palladius: цзянь (czjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: gim⁶
    • Yale: gihm
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gim⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: gim⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kiːm²²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khiǎm
    • Tâi-lô: khiǎm
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰiam²²/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khiām
    • Tâi-lô: khiām
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qiam
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /kʰiam²²/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /kʰiam³³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: kiam⁶ / kiêm⁶ / kiang⁶
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khiăm / khiĕm / khiăng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰiam³⁵/, /kʰiem³⁵/, /kʰiaŋ³⁵/

Note:

• kiam6 - Shantou and other places;
• kiêm6 - Chaozhou;
• kiang6 - Chenghai.

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• Middle Chinese: gjemX

Rime
Character	儉
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	群 (30)
Final (韻)	鹽 (154)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	巨險切
Baxter	gjemX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɡˠiᴇmX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɡᵚiɛmX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɡiæmX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/gjiamX/
Li Rong	/ɡjɛmX/
Wang Li	/ɡĭɛmX/
Bernard Karlgren	/gi̯ɛmX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gim6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]r[a]mʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡramʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	儉
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiǎn
Middle Chinese	‹ gjemX ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ]r[a]mʔ/
English	restrict, frugal
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	儉
Reading #	1/1
No.	10213
Phonetic component	僉
Rime group	談
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	儉
Old Chinese	/*ɡramʔ/

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 儉

1. frugal; thrifty

   節儉／节俭  ―  jiéjiǎn  ―  frugal; thrifty; economical

   勤儉／勤俭  ―  qínjiǎn  ―  hardworking and thrifty

   儉樸／俭朴  ―  jiǎnpǔ  ―  thrifty and simple

   省喫儉用／省吃俭用  ―  shěngchījiǎnyòng  ―  to save on food and daily expenses

   勤工儉學／勤工俭学  ―  qíngōngjiǎnxué  ―  part-time work and part-time study

   • 禮，與其奢也，寧儉；喪，與其易也，寧戚。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     礼，与其奢也，宁俭；丧，与其易也，宁戚。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Lǐ, yǔqí shē yě, nìng jiǎn; sāng, yǔqí yì yě, nìng qī. [Pinyin]

     In festive ceremonies, it is better to be sparing than extravagant. In the ceremonies of mourning, it is better that there be deep sorrow than a minute attention to observances.

2. ^† modest; moderate; temperate

   • 夫子溫、良、恭、儉、讓以得之。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     夫子温、良、恭、俭、让以得之。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Fūzǐ wēn, liáng, gōng, jiǎn, ràng yǐ dé zhī. [Pinyin]

     Our master is benign, upright, courteous, temperate, and complaisant and thus he gets his information.

   • 恭儉而好禮者宜歌小雅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     恭俭而好礼者宜歌小雅。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Gōngjiǎn ér hàolǐ zhě yí gē Xiǎoyǎ. [Pinyin]

     The courteous and self-restraining, the lovers of the rules of propriety, should sing the Xiao Ya (Minor Odes of the Kingdom).

3. ^† lacking; insufficient
4. ^† poor harvest
5. a surname

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Japanese

Shinjitai	倹
Kyūjitai	儉

Kanji

儉

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 倹)

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Readings

• Go-on: げん (gen)
• Kan-on: けん (ken)
• Kun: つましい (tsumashii, 儉しい); つずまやか (tsuzumayaka, 儉やか)^{←つづまやか (tudumayaka, 儉やか, historical)}

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Korean

Hanja

儉 (eum 검 (geom))

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Vietnamese

Han character

儉: Hán Nôm readings: kiệm, cợm, hiếm, thiếu

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