義

See also: 义, 羲, and 羛

義 U+7FA9, 義 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7FA9 ← 羨 [U+7FA8] CJK Unified Ideographs 羪 → [U+7FAA]

Translingual

Stroke order (Japan)

Han character

義 (Kangxi radical 123, 羊+7, 13 strokes, cangjie input 廿土竹手戈 (TGHQI), four-corner 8055₃, composition ⿱𦍌我)

Derived characters

• 儀 𠿿 嬟 嶬 𢣂 㩘 𣿭 䧧 㬢 檥 燨 犠 㼁 𤩺 𥋟 礒 艤 蟻 議 轙 䰮 䲑 鸃 䣡 䴊 㠖 䕏 䉝 㕒

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 952, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 28504
• Dae Jaweon: page 1397, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3133, character 2
• Unihan data for U+7FA9

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Chinese

trad.		義
simp.		义*
alternative forms		羛

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 義
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
莪	*ŋaːl
哦	*ŋaːl
娥	*ŋaːl
峨	*ŋaːl
峩	*ŋaːl
鵝	*ŋaːl
俄	*ŋaːl
蛾	*ŋaːl, *ŋralʔ
睋	*ŋaːl
涐	*ŋaːl
誐	*ŋaːl
硪	*ŋaːl, *ŋaːlʔ
我	*ŋaːlʔ
騀	*ŋaːlʔ
餓	*ŋaːls
義	*ŋrals
儀	*ŋral
轙	*ŋral, *ŋralʔ
檥	*ŋral, *ŋralʔ
蟻	*ŋralʔ
艤	*ŋralʔ
礒	*ŋralʔ
羛	*ŋralʔ, *hŋral
議	*ŋrals
犧	*hŋral
曦	*hŋral
羲	*hŋral

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ŋrals) : semantic 羊 (“sheep”) + phonetic 我 (OC *ŋaːlʔ).

Etymology

Cognate with 儀 (OC *ŋral, “ceremony; appearance”). See there for more.

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 義

1. right conduct; righteousness; justice; morality

   正義／正义  ―  zhèngyì  ―  justice

   大義滅親／大义灭亲  ―  dàyìmièqīn  ―  to place righteousness before family

   • 子曰：「君子義以為上。君子有勇而無義為亂，小人有勇而無義為盜。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「君子义以为上。君子有勇而无义为乱，小人有勇而无义为盗。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

     Zǐyuē: “Jūnzǐ yì yǐwéi shàng. Jūnzǐ yǒu yǒng ér wú yì wéi luàn, xiǎorén yǒu yǒng ér wú yì wéi dào.” [Pinyin]

     The superior man holds righteousness to be of highest importance. A man in a superior situation, having valor without righteousness, will be guilty of insubordination; one of the lower people having valor without righteousness, will commit robbery.

2. ties between people; relationship

   忘恩負義／忘恩负义  ―  wàng'ēnfùyì  ―  to be devoid of gratefulness; to forget someone’s kindness and turn one’s back on him

   有情有義／有情有义  ―  yǒuqíngyǒuyì  ―  having affection and faith

3. meaning; implication

   歧義／歧义  ―  qíyì  ―  ambiguity (in language or wording)

   同義詞／同义词  ―  tóngyìcí  ―  synonym

4. righteous or for the public good

   義師／义师  ―  yìshī  ―  army fighting a just war

   義舉／义举  ―  yìjǔ  ―  magnanimous act undertaken for the public good

5. (in compounds) adoptive or formally acknowledged as a relative but not related by blood

   義父／义父  ―  yìfù  ―  person formally acknowledged as one's father

   義兄／义兄  ―  yìxiōng  ―  sworn elder brother

6. (in compounds) artificial

   義肢／义肢  ―  yìzhī  ―  prosthetic leg

7. (Taiwan) Short for 義大利／义大利 (Yìdàlì, “Italy”).
8. a surname

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (義):

• → Japanese: 義(ぎ) (gi)
• → Korean: 의(義) (ui)
• → Vietnamese: nghĩa (義)

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Japanese

Kanji

義

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ぎ (gi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ぎ (gi, Jōyō)
• Kun: よい (yoi, 義い)、よしとする (yoshitosuru, 義しとする)、よく (yoku, 義く)
• Nanori: よし (yoshi)

Compounds

• 義捐(ぎえん) (gien)
• 義侠(ぎきょう) (gikyō)
• 義訓(ぎくん) (gikun)

• 義憤(ぎふん) (gifun)
• 義務(ぎむ) (gimu)
• 仁義(じんぎ) (jingi)

• 定義(ていぎ) (teigi)

Noun

義(ぎ) • (gi) 

1. justice; a situation which has a right and proper reason
   • 正義(せいぎ) (seigi)
   • 主義(しゅぎ) (shugi): principle
   • 義務(ぎむ) (gimu): obligation
   • Antonyms : 奸(かん) (kan, “evil”)
2. a meaning
   • 意義(いぎ) (igi)
   • 定義(ていぎ) (teigi): definition
   • 奥義(おうぎ) (ōgi)
3. a relative who has no blood relation
   • 義(ぎ)父(ふ) (gifu)
   • 義(ぎ)母(ぼ) (gibo)
   • 義(ぎ)親(しん) (gishin)
   • 義(ぎ)兄(けい) (gikei)
   • 義(ぎ)姉(し) (gishi)
   • 義(ぎ)弟(てい) (gitei)
   • 義(ぎ)妹(まい) (gimai)
4. an object which can be used properly instead of a right one
   • 義眼(ぎがん) (gigan)
   • 義手(ぎしゅ) (gishu)
   • 義足(ぎそく) (gisoku)
   • 義体(ぎたい) (gitai)

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Korean

Hanja

義 (eumhun 옳을 의 (oreul ui))

1. hanja form^? of 의 (“right conduct; righteousness; justice; morality”)

Compounds

• 주의 (主義, juui, “a principle or set of principles; a doctrine; an ism”)
• 의리 (義理, uiri, “loyalty; fidelity”)
• 정의 (正義, jeong'ui, “justice”)

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Vietnamese

Han character

義: Hán Nôm readings: nghĩa, nghì, ngửi, ngãi

1. meaning
2. morality; duty