卿 (qīng): high-ranking official (archaic)

Meanings

1 high-ranking official (archaic)
2 minister (in old government titles)
3 term of endearment between spouses (archaic)
4 you (used by an emperor to address subjects, archaic)

Characters

卿

qīng

high official; you (archaic); radical 卩

Examples

众卿平身。

Zhòng qīng píng shēn.

Rise, my ministers. (formulaic line spoken by emperors in costume drama)

卿卿我我，别提多甜蜜了。

Qīngqīngwǒwǒ, biétí duō tiánmì le.

They were all lovey-dovey, sweet beyond words.

他官至九卿。

Tā guān zhì jiǔ qīng.

He rose to the rank of one of the Nine Ministers.

Tips

history

卿 was a top echelon of officialdom in ancient China. Pre-Qin states had 六卿 (Six Ministers); Han re-organized them as 九卿 (Nine Ministers) below the 三公 (Three Excellencies). Emperors addressed individual ministers as 爱卿 (àiqīng, 'my dear minister') — a stock phrase in 古装剧 (period dramas) today.

register

Outside formal historical writing, 卿 today is overwhelmingly literary or playful. The reduplicated idiom 卿卿我我 means 'darling-darling, me-me' — i.e. a couple being saccharinely affectionate.

Components

radical

卩 jié

seal; kneeling person

Right side 卩 is the indexing radical, picturing a person seated formally in court posture. It completes the second of the two facing officials, mirroring the left half. The same radical anchors 印 seal, 即 approach, 节 joint — all sharing the kneeling-figure origin.

semantic

卯 mǎo

(zodiac branch — rabbit); paired-open

Left side is one half of 卯 — historically the two halves of 卯 frame the whole character, picturing two officials seated facing each other across a table. From that paired-mirroring scene 卿 takes its banquet-of-ministers image. The same flanking pattern appears in 即 and 既.

semantic

皀 jí

food vessel; aromatic grain

Centre is a stylised covered food bowl — the ritual meal ranking officials shared at court. With the flanking figures, the picture is two ministers seated across the vessel from one another. All modern senses (high official, spousal endearment, 'you' from emperor to subject) descend from this banquet scene.