杞 (qǐ): Chinese wolfberry (goji)

Meanings

1 Chinese wolfberry (goji)
2 Qi (an ancient state)

Characters

杞

qǐ

wolfberry; Qi (ancient state)

Examples

HSK 7-9

枸杞泡茶对眼睛好。

Gǒuqǐ pàochá duì yǎnjing hǎo.

Wolfberries are good for the eyes when added to tea.

HSK 7-9

不要杞人忧天。

Búyào qǐrényōutiān.

Don't worry about troubles that may never happen.

Tips

usage

Mostly seen in 枸杞 (goji berry / wolfberry). It also names the ancient state of Qi in 杞人忧天 - "the man of Qi who feared the sky would fall," meaning needless worry.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

The tree radical 木 on the left marks this as a plant: the wolfberry is a small shrub.

phonetic

己 jǐ

self; sixth heavenly stem

On the right 己 supplies the sound, shifted from jǐ to qǐ. It serves purely as the phonetic element.

Stroke Order

杞 qǐ

Related Words

枸杞茶 gǒuqǐchá

goji berry tea / wolfberry tea

枸杞 gǒuqǐ #94,139

wolfberry / goji berry (Lycium chinense / Lycium barbarum)

杞人忧天 qǐrén-yōutiān #22,468

to worry needlessly / to entertain groundless fears / to fret over nothing (like the man of Qi who feared the sky would fall)

戈 gē #6,795

dagger-axe (ancient Chinese weapon) / Ge (surname)

姬 jī #8,345

concubine (archaic) / surname Ji (ancient Chinese royal surname) / beautiful woman (literary)

古今中外 gǔjīn-zhōngwài HSK 7-9

ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign / throughout all ages and all lands

国画 guóhuà HSK 7-9

traditional Chinese painting / Chinese ink painting

地步 dìbù HSK 7-9 #4,880

situation; state; extent (usually negative) / condition one has reached

寸 cùn HSK 5 #4,864

a traditional Chinese unit of length (about 3.33 cm) / inch (informal usage)

处在 chǔzài HSK 5 #4,719

to be situated at; to be in (a position/state)