zhì
verb HSK 7-9 #3,291

Meanings

  1. 1 to control; to restrict
  2. 2 to make; to manufacture
  3. 3 system; institution

Examples

Nǐ yào xuéhuì kòngzhì qíngxù.
You should learn to control your emotions.
Zhè shì Zhōngguó zhìzào de.
This is made in China.
Jiàoyù zhìdù xūyào gǎigé.
The education system needs reform.

Tips

usage
is used in: 制度 (system), 控制 (to control), 制造 (to manufacture), 制作 (to produce), 限制 (to limit), 复制 (to copy). It has dual meanings of 'controlling' and 'making.'

Components

radical
dāo
knife (radical form)
Right-side knife radical , the standing form of , is the indexing component. It supplies the cutting tool that acts on the wood: tree trimmed by knife yields a fashioned object, hence 'manufacture, make.' The senses 'control, restrict, regulate' extend from disciplined cutting.
semantic
zhū
vermilion; cut tree
Left side preserves , originally a pictograph of a tree with a mark across the trunk to show where it was being cut. That image of trimming a tree carries the seed of 'shape, fashion, make.' The modern stylization blurs the tree but the unit still reads as one block.

Stroke Order

zhì