晋 (Jìn): Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD)

Meanings

1 Jin Dynasty (265–420 AD)
2 abbreviation for Shanxi province (山西)
3 surname Jin
4 to advance; to promote (literary)

Characters

晋

jìn

Jin dynasty; to advance; abbreviation for Shanxi

Examples

晋朝分为西晋和东晋两个时期。

Jìncháo fēnwéi Xījìn hé Dōngjìn liǎng gè shíqī.

The Jin Dynasty is divided into the Western Jin and Eastern Jin periods.

他升职了，晋升为部门经理。

Tā shēngzhí le, jìnshēng wéi bùmén jīnglǐ.

He was promoted to department manager.

Tips

history

晋 (Jin) refers to the dynasty that succeeded the Three Kingdoms period. Western Jin (西晋 265–316) briefly unified China; Eastern Jin (东晋 317–420) ruled southern China after nomadic invasions. 晋 also abbreviates 山西 (Shanxi) province, which was the ancient state of Jin.

Components

radical

日 rì

sun; day

Sun radical at the bottom anchors the original meaning: 晋 pictured the sun rising and arrows moving forward in formation, i.e. advancement. The Jin Dynasty (265–420) and the abbreviation for Shanxi province both take their name from this character — the dynasty was named for the ancient Jin state, located in modern Shanxi.

semantic

亚 yà

second; sub-

Top is a stylised graphic descendant of the older form 㬜 — historically two arrows pointing into a sun. The modern simplified shape coincidentally matches 亚, but the etymology is closer to 'rising sun shooting forth rays at dawn'. From that dawn image the literary verb sense 'to advance, to promote' grew.