zhì
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 a pig; a hog (literary)

Examples

Zēngzǐ wèile shǒuxìn, wèi háizi shā zhì.
To keep his word, Zengzi killed a pig for his child.
Cì zhī zhì jiān.
He was given a roasted pork leg.

Tips

history
is the classical word for 'pig'; everyday Chinese uses . It is famous from 曾子 killing a pig to keep a promise to his child, a story about honesty toward children.

Components

pictograph
pig's-head shape
The top is the snout-and-head of the pig. The whole character is a picture of a pig: head on top, body and legs below, with an arrow shape inside recalling a hunted boar.
phonetic
shǐ
arrow
(arrow) sits in the middle, originally hinting at the sound and at a boar struck by an arrow. The two side strokes added below complete the picture of the animal's legs.

Stroke Order

zhì