泾 (jīng): the Jing River (tributary of th…

Meanings

泾渭分明，比喻是非界限清楚。

Jīngwèifēnmíng, bǐyù shìfēi jièxiàn qīngchu.

"The Jing and Wei rivers are clearly distinct" means right and wrong are sharply separated.

泾河发源于宁夏，在陕西汇入渭河。

Jīng hé fā yuán yú Níngxià, zài Shǎnxī huìrù wèi hé.

The Jing River rises in Ningxia and joins the Wei in Shaanxi.

culture

The clear Jing meeting the muddy Wei produced the idiom 泾渭分明, used whenever a distinction between good and bad, or right and wrong, is unmistakable.

radical

氵 shuǐ

water

氵 is the water radical 水 in its three-drop left-side form, marking 泾 as the name of a river.

phonetic

巠 jīng

underground watercourse

The right side is a contracted form of 巠, which supplies the jīng sound. The same phonetic gives 经, 径, and 茎 their reading.

泾 jīng