清 (qīng): clear; pure; clean

Meanings

1 clear; pure; clean
2 to clean up; to settle

Characters

清

qing

clear; pure; clean

Examples

这条河的水很清。

Zhè tiáo hé de shuǐ hěn qīng.

The water in this river is very clear.

你说清楚了吗？

Nǐ shuō qīngchǔ le ma?

Did you explain it clearly?

Tips

usage

清 forms many compounds: 清楚 (qīngchǔ, clear), 清洁 (qīngjié, clean), 清醒 (qīngxǐng, sober/lucid), 清淡 (qīngdàn, light/bland), 清朝 (Qīngcháo, Qing Dynasty).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water on the left — the indexing radical. Anchors 清 as a quality of water: clear, transparent. From the clarity of clean water came the abstract senses pure, quiet, and clear-cut. Same family as 河, 海, 洗, 流.

phonetic

青 qīng

blue-green; clear

Right 青 supplies the sound exactly (qīng) and adds rich semantic reinforcement: 青 itself is the blue-green color of clear sky and clear water. Pairing 氵 with 青 doubles the imagery of clarity. Same phonetic family: 情 (feeling), 请 (please), 晴 (sunny), 精 (essence) — the qīng/jīng cluster.