青

See also: 靑

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

青 (Kangxi radical 174, 靑+0, 8 strokes, cangjie input 手一月 (QMB), four-corner 5022₇, composition ⿱龶月)

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/靑
• 倩, 凊, 啨, 埥, 婧, 崝, 情, 掅, 清, 猜, 晴, 腈, 棈, 𭴼, 睛, 碃, 精, 綪(𬘬), 蜻, 請(请), 錆(锖), 郬, 寈, 菁, 箐, 圊

Related characters

• 靑 (Orthodox form in Kangxi dictionary, preferred form in Korean hanja)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1381, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 42564
• Dae Jaweon: page 1893, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4046, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9752

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Chinese

trad.		青/靑
simp.		青
alternative forms		寈 㞭 𡗡 𡴏 𡴑 寈 㞭 𡗡 𡴏 𡴑 𡷉 𤯝 𤯞 ⿳龶丿丶 (second-round simplified)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 青
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)		Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Ancient script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
猜	*sʰlɯː
輤	*sʰleːns
綪	*sʰleːns, *ʔsreːŋ
倩	*sʰleːns, *sʰleŋs
棈	*sʰleːns
蒨	*sʰeːns
篟	*sʰeːns
生	*sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs
牲	*sreŋ
笙	*sreŋ
甥	*sreŋ
鉎	*sreŋ, *sleːŋ
珄	*sreŋ
鼪	*sreŋ, *sreŋs
猩	*sreŋ, *seːŋ
狌	*sreŋ
眚	*sreŋʔ
貹	*sreŋs
崝	*zreːŋ
精	*ʔsleŋ, *ʔsleŋs
菁	*ʔsleŋ
鶄	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
蜻	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
鼱	*ʔsleŋ
婧	*ʔsleŋ, *zleŋs, *zleŋʔ
睛	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleŋʔ
箐	*ʔsleŋ
聙	*ʔsleŋ
旌	*ʔsleŋ
清	*sʰleŋ
圊	*sʰleŋ
請	*sʰleŋʔ, *zleŋs, *zleŋ
凊	*sʰleŋs
䝼	*zleŋs, *zleŋ
靚	*zleŋs
情	*zleŋ
晴	*zleŋ
夝	*zleŋ
靜	*zleŋʔ
靖	*zleŋʔ
睲	*seŋʔ, *seːŋs
惺	*seŋʔ, *seːŋ
性	*sleŋs
姓	*sleŋs
靗	*l̥ʰeŋs
鯖	*ʔljeŋ, *sʰleːŋ
青	*sʰleːŋ
靘	*sʰleːŋ, *sʰleːŋs
掅	*sʰleːŋs
胜	*sleːŋ
曐	*sleːŋ
星	*sleːŋ
鮏	*sleːŋ
腥	*seːŋ, *seːŋs
鯹	*seːŋ
醒	*seːŋ, *seːŋʔ, *seːŋs
篂	*seːŋ

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 生 (“growth of plants”) + 丹 (“cinnabar”). Cinnabar was used for dyeing, and by extension, came to imply “color” in general, giving the combined meaning “color of growing plants” → “blue-green”.

In the modern glyph, the top component is reduced to 龶, and the bottom component resembles the unrelated 月 (“moon”).

The second-round simplified form of the character is based on the calligraphic form of the character.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīng, jīng (qing¹, jing¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄥ, ㄐㄧㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ceng¹ / cing¹
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): chhiâng / chhîn / chhiang

  (Meixian, Guangdong): qiang¹

• Northern Min (KCR): cháng
• Eastern Min (BUC): chăng / chĭng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chhiⁿ / chheⁿ / chheng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): cên¹

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹chin

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cing
    • Wade–Giles: chʻing¹
    • Yale: chīng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ching
    • Palladius: цин (cin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰiŋ⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jing
    • Wade–Giles: ching¹
    • Yale: jīng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jing
    • Palladius: цзин (czin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵/

Note: 'jīng' only used in 青青 (jīngjīng).

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: ceng¹ / cing¹
    • Yale: chēng / chīng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tseng¹ / tsing¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: céng¹ / qing¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɛːŋ⁵⁵/, /t͡sʰɪŋ⁵⁵/

Note:

• ceng1 - vernacular;
• cing1 - literary.

• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhiâng / chhîn / chhiang
    • Hakka Romanization System: qiang´ / qin´ / qiang
    • Hagfa Pinyim: qiang¹ / qin¹ / qiang⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰi̯aŋ²⁴/, /t͡sʰin²⁴/, /t͡sʰi̯aŋ⁵⁵/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: qiang¹
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰiaŋ⁴⁴/

Note:

• chhiâng - vernacular;
• chhîn - literary.

• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: cháng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaŋ⁵⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: chăng / chĭng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰaŋ⁵⁵/, /t͡sʰiŋ⁵⁵/

Note:

• chăng - vernacular;
• chĭng - literary.

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei, Lukang, Sanxia, Kinmen, Magong, Hsinchu)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhiⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tshinn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: chvy
    • IPA (Quanzhou, Lukang): /t͡sʰĩ³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei, Kinmen): /t͡sʰĩ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Yilan, Taichung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chheⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tshenn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhvef
    • IPA (Kaohsiung, Tainan, Yilan): /t͡sʰẽ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰɛ̃⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chheng
    • Tâi-lô: tshing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰiɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰiɪŋ³³/

Note:

• chhiⁿ/chheⁿ - vernacular;
• chheng - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: cên¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsheⁿ
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰẽ³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹chin
    • MiniDict: chin^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹qin
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡ɕʰin⁵³/

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• Middle Chinese: tsheng

Rime
Character	青
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	青 (125)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	IV
Fanqie	倉經切
Baxter	tsheng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡sʰeŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡sʰeŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡sʰɛŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/t͡sʰɛjŋ/
Li Rong	/t͡sʰeŋ/
Wang Li	/t͡sʰieŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/t͡sʰieŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qīng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cing1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[s.r̥]ˤeŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*sʰleːŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	青
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qīng
Middle Chinese	‹ tsheng ›
Old Chinese	/*[s.r̥]ˁeŋ/
English	green or blue
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	青
Reading #	1/1
No.	11362
Phonetic component	生
Rime group	耕
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	靑
Old Chinese	/*sʰleːŋ/
Notes	說文從生丹，戴桐王筠皆雲從丹生聲

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 青

1. blue-green; blue (of sky, stone etc.); green (of grass, plants, mountain etc.)
2. blue-green ("grue")-colored items
3. black (of hair, cloth, silk thread etc.)
4. (Southern Min) green

   青紅燈／青红灯 [Hokkien]  ―  chheⁿ-âng-teng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  traffic light

5. luxuriant; lush; exuberant
6. young; adolescent
7. east
8. spring
9. green grass
10. ripening crops
11. (Southern Min) Used as a substitute for 鮮／鲜 (chhiⁿ)

    尚青海鮮 [Hokkien, trad.]
    尚青海鲜 [Hokkien, simp.]

    siōng chhiⁿ hái-sian [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

    Freshest seafood (尚青 rhymes with 上鮮 which means 最新鮮 ('freshest'))

12. Short for 青海 (Qīnghǎi, “Qinghai Province”).
13. a surname

Usage notes

The meaning for “blue” and “black” is more commonly used in Classical Chinese, while in modern Chinese, the meaning for “green” is more common. In fact, 青 covered both green and blue ("grue") until modern times. For example, 青山綠水 (“hill or water green in color”), 青蘋果 (“green apple”). However, there are still some expressions for the meaning of blue, e.g. 青天 (“blue sky”), 青出於藍 (“blue comes from indigo; someone performing better than their teacher”)

In Cantonese the use of 青 to mean “black” is still used in circumstances where to use 黑 (hak1) would be inauspicious, as it is a near-homophone of 乞 (hat1, “beggar”). For example, 黑衣 (hak1 ji1) used to describe clothing would be a near-homophone of both beggar and a beggar's garment.

See also

• 藍／蓝 (lán)
• 蒼／苍 (cāng)
• 紺／绀 (gàn)
• 碧 (bì)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (青):

• → Japanese: 青(せい) (sei)
• → Korean: 청(靑) (cheong)
• → Vietnamese: thanh (青)

Others:

References

• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A04499
• “青”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Entry #4515”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

青

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 靑)

1. blue, bluish-green
2. immature, unripe, young
3. publication, record
4. east
5. cyan

Readings

• Go-on: しょう (shō, Jōyō ^†)^{←しやう (syau, historical)}
• Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
• Sō-on: しい (shii)
• Kun: あお (ao, 青, Jōyō)^{←あを (awo, 青, historical)}; あおい (aoi, 青い, Jōyō)^{←あをい (awoi, 青い, historical)}; さお (sao, 青)^{←さを (sawo, 青, historical)}
• Nanori: お (o); きよ (kiyo); はる (haru)

Compounds

Compounds

• 青(せい)青(せい) (seisei)
• 青(せい)果(か) (seika, “produce, fruits and vegetables”)
• 青(せい)化(か)法(ほう) (seikahō)
• 青(せい)雲(うん) (seiun)
• 青(せい)眼(がん) (seigan)
• 青(せい)酸(さん) (seisan, “hydrocyanic acid”)
• 青(せい)山(ざん) (seizan)
• 青(せい)史(し) (seishi)
• 青(せい)磁(じ) (seiji)
• 青(せい)春(しゅん) (seishun)
• 青(せい)松(しょう) (seishō)
• 青(せい)天(てん) (seiten)
• 青(せい)銅(どう) (seidō)
• 青(せい)年(ねん) (seinen)
• 青(せい)嵐(らん) (seiran)
• 青(せい)竜(りゅう) (seiryū)
• 青(せい)竜(りょう) (seiryō)
• 青(しょう)竜(りゅう) (shōryū)
• 汗(かん)青(せい) (kansei)
• 殺(さっ)青(せい) (sassei)
• 丹(たん)青(せい) (tansei)
• 瀝(れき)青(せい) (rekisei, “bitumen”)
• 群(ぐん)青(じょう) (gunjō, “ultramarine”)
• 紺(こん)青(じょう) (konjō)
• 緑(ろく)青(しょう) (rokushō)
• 刺青(いれずみ) (irezumi, “tattoo, tattooing”)
• 万年青(オモト) (omoto)
• 青(チン)菜(ツァイ) (chintsai)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
青
あお Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
靑 (kyūjitai)

/sawo/ (uncertain, may be compound as opposed to root) → /awo/ → /ao/

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *awo.

Appears as the latter part in older compounds with an -s- infix or prefix. It is unclear if this leading /s/ is indicative of an earlier form (sawo), or if this was an addition for euphony to avoid vowel clusters, or for other reasons. This /s/ is also seen in 雨 (ame, “rain”, becoming same in old compounds) and 稲 (ine, “rice”, becoming shine in old compounds).

Given that this /s/ only ever appears interstitially, and given the semantics, this /s/ may be cognate with Korean interfix ᄉ (-s-) used to mark possession; compare German -s-.

Pronunciation

• (Kyoto) あお [àóꜜ]

Noun

1. blue
   1. one of three primary colors
   2. a shade of blue to blue green
2. Short for 青信号 (ao-shingō): green (traffic light color, as the color of plants)

   Antonym: 赤 (aka)

3. the black, bluish color of a horse's hair; also, such a horse
   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 39:

     Auo. アヲ (青) 馬の毛色で, 全体に黒くて青みがあり, 両耳の内側に多少白いところのあるもの. この部分の毛も他の部分と同じようにすっかり黒い時には, Curo(黒)と呼ばれる.

   Synonym: 青毛 (aoge)

4. (card games) Short for 青短, 青丹 (aotan): one of the three hanafuda cards bearing a blue 短冊 (tanzaku, “narrow card used for poetry”); a 役 (yaku) of the three aotan cards, worth 3 points
5. (card games) a blue card in 天正カルタ (Tenshō karuta)
6. Short for 青本 (aohon): This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
7. Short for 青銭 (aosen): This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 青(あお)い (aoi): blue (adjective)
• 青(あお)青(あお) (aoao)
• 青(あお)嵐(あらし) (ao-arashi)
• 藍(あい) (ai, “indigo”)
• 青(あお)海原(うなばら) (ao-unabara)
• 青(あお)馬(うま) (aouma)
• 青(あお)黴(かび) (aokabi)
• 青(あお)桐(ぎり) (aogiri)
• 青(あお)草(くさ) (aokusa)
• 青(あお)雲(くも) (aokumo), 青(あお)雲(ぐも) (aogumo)
• 青(あお)写(じゃ)真(しん) (ao-jashin)
• 青(あお)信(しん)号(ごう) (ao-shingō, “green light”)
• 青(あお)筋(すじ) (aosuji)
• 青(あお)空(ぞら) (aozora)
• 青(あお)田(た) (aota)
• 青(あお)竹(たけ) (aotake), 青(あお)竹(だけ) (aodake)
• 青(あお)短(たん), 青(あお)丹(たん) (aotan)
• 青(あお)菜(な) (aona)
• 青(あお)嶺(ね) (aone)
• 青(あお)虫(むし) (aomushi)
• 青(あお)物(もの) (aomono)
• 青(あお)柳(やぎ) (aoyagi)
• 青(あお)山(やま) (aoyama)
• 真(ま)青(さお) (masao), 真(ま)っ青(さお) (massao)

Proverbs

• 青(あお)は藍(あい)より出(い)でて藍(あい)より青(あお)し (ao wa ai yori idete ai yori aoshi)

See also

Colors in Japanese · 色(いろ) (iro) (layout · text)

白(しろ) (shiro)	灰(はい)色(いろ) (haiiro), 鼠(ねずみ)色(いろ) (nezumiiro) (dated)	黒(くろ) (kuro)
赤(あか) (aka); 深(しん)紅(く) (shinku), クリムゾン (kurimuzon), 紅(べに)色(いろ) (beniiro), 紅(くれない)色(いろ) (kurenaiiro), 茜(あかね)色(いろ) (akaneiro)	オレンジ (orenji), 橙(だいだい)色(いろ) (daidaiiro); 茶(ちゃ)色(いろ) (chairo), 褐(かっ)色(しょく) (kasshoku)	黄(き)色(いろ) (kiiro); クリーム色(いろ) (kurīmuiro)
黄(き)緑(みどり) (kimidori)	緑(みどり) (midori), 青(あお) (ao) (dated)	若緑(わかみどり) (wakamidori)
シアン (shian); 鴨(かも)の羽色(はねいろ) (kamo no hane iro)	水(みず)色(いろ) (mizuiro)	青(あお) (ao)
菫(すみれ)色(いろ) (sumireiro); 藍(あい)色(いろ) (aiiro), インジゴ (injigo)	マゼンタ (mazenta), 赤紫(あかむらさき) (akamurasaki); 紫(むらさき) (murasaki)	ピンク (pinku), 桃(もも)色(いろ) (momoiro)

Prefix

1. unripe, young

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 青(あお)臭(くさ)い (aokusai, “inexperienced”)
• 青(あお)侍(さぶらい) (aosaburai), 青(あお)侍(ざむらい) (aozamurai)
• 青(あお)大(だい)将(しょう) (ao-daishō)
• 青(あお)二(に)才(さい) (ao-nisai, “greenhorn”)
• 青(あお)女(にょう)房(ぼう) (ao-nyōbō)

Proper noun

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
青
せい Grade: 1
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
靑 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 青 (MC tsheng).

Noun

青(せい) • (sei) 

1. the color blue

Proper noun

1. a female given name

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
青
しい Grade: 1
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
靑 (kyūjitai)

Unknown. The reading might be an obscure term from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese or dialect. The use of the character 青 arises from its 宋音 (sōon, “Song-dynasty pronunciation”).

Noun

1. (rare, archaic, mythology) a beast that looks like a weasel, and is said to have lived in present-day Fukuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures
2. (rare, archaic, mythology) a beast that looks like a wolf, and is said to have appeared around Mount Yoshino

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Korean

Hanja

青 (eumhun 푸를 청 (pureul cheong))

1. Alternative form of 靑 (“blue; green”)

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Vietnamese

Han character

青: Hán Nôm readings: thanh

1. green
2. blue

References

• Nom Foundation