皙 (xī): (literary) fair-skinned

Meanings

1 (literary) fair-skinned
2 of a light, clear complexion

Characters

皙

xī

fair-skinned

Examples

她皮肤白皙，眉目清秀。

Tā pífūbái xī, méimù qīngxiù.

Her skin is fair and her features are delicate.

古诗里常用皙形容美人。

Gǔshī lǐ chángyòng xī xíngróng měirén.

Classical poetry often uses 皙 to describe a beauty.

Tips

usage

皙 almost never appears alone in modern Chinese — it lives inside the compound 白皙 (báixī, 'fair-complexioned'), used in cosmetics ads, skincare reviews, and literary description. Classical sources include Du Fu's 不必须白皙 ('one needn't be fair-skinned').

memory

Radical 白 (white) on the left tells you the meaning relates to whiteness/light skin; 析 on the right gives the sound xī.

Components

radical

白 bái

white

Bottom 白 — white, the indexing radical. Carries the entire meaning: 皙 is the literary word for the pale-white complexion prized in classical Chinese aesthetics (白皙的皮肤 fair, smooth skin). Anchors the character firmly in the white-and-light family (皇 emperor, 的 of, 皎 bright).

phonetic

析 xī

to split; to analyse (here phonetic)

Top 析 — an axe 斤 splitting a tree 木, supplying the sound xī directly without shift. Pure phonetic role; no semantic contribution. Same phonetic frame appears in 晳 (alt form of 皙) and is the historical sound-bearer for the literary fair-skinned word.