胫 (jìng) · shin, lower leg (between knee and ankle)

Meanings

1 shin
2 lower leg (between knee and ankle)

Characters

胫

jìng

shin

Examples

HSK 4

他在足球比赛中胫骨受伤了。

Tā zài zúqiú bǐsài zhōng jìnggǔ shòushāng le.

He injured his shin bone during the football match.

HSK 4

消息不胫而走。

Xiāoxi bújìng'érzǒu.

The news spread like wildfire. (lit. ran without legs)

Tips

history

Classical anatomy term: 膝上曰股，膝下曰胫 'above the knee is called gǔ (thigh), below is called jìng (shin)' - recorded by Huang Kan in his commentary on the Analects. Lives on in 胫骨 'tibia / shin bone' and the chengyu 不胫而走 'spread without needing legs'.

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

meat; flesh (radical form)

Left meat-flesh radical - visually identical to 月 (moon) but a different component, the side-form of 肉 used for body parts. Indexes 胫 in the anatomy family with 脚 foot, 腿 leg, 膝 knee, 腰 waist. Anchors the meaning: the shin is the front bone of the lower leg.

phonetic

巠 jīng

underground stream; warp (phonetic)

Right 巠 in its 5-stroke contracted form - the standalone is 7 strokes; here it's compressed to fit the right slot. Supplies the sound jīng to jìng with tone shift only. Same phonetic family: 颈 neck, 径 path, 劲 strength, 经 to pass through. The original sense 'straight underground channel' loosely echoes the long, straight shinbone.