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义

義
yì
noun #6,394

Meanings

  1. 1 justice; righteousness
  2. 2 meaning; significance
  3. 3 loyalty (between friends)

Examples

这个词是什么意义？
Zhège cí shì shénme yìyì?
What is the meaning of this word?
他很讲义气。
Tā hěn jiǎngyì qì.
He is very loyal to his friends.

Tips

usage
义 is mostly used in compounds: 意义 (meaning), 正义 (justice), 义务 (duty/obligation), 主义 (doctrine/-ism). It is rarely used as a standalone word in modern Chinese.
culture
义 is one of the core Confucian virtues. In Chinese history and literature, 义 represents loyalty between sworn brothers, famously embodied by Guan Yu (关羽) in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Components

radical
丶 zhǔ
dot stroke (simplified residue)
Xinhua indexes 义 under the 丶 (dot) radical, picking the top dot as the anchor. The dot is a simplification residue standing in for the much fuller traditional 義 (which had 羊 sheep on top of 我 weapon-hand); the modern form keeps only this minimal marker.
ideograph
乂 yì
crossing strokes
Two crossing strokes forming an abstract X-shape beneath the dot above. Together with the dot they give the simplified silhouette that replaces traditional 義 in the meanings 'righteousness, justice, meaning'. Historically the 'mowing' or 'governing' graph 乂, repurposed here as a pure shape.

Stroke Order

义 yì