豸 (zhì) · legless creature; long-spined beast

Meanings

1 legless creature; long-spined beast
2 to resolve; to settle (classical)

Characters

豸

zhì

legless creature; long-spined beast

Examples

HSK 7-9

古人说有足谓之虫，无足谓之豸。

Gǔrén shuō yǒu zú wèi zhī chóng, wú zú wèi zhī zhì.

The ancients said: with feet it's called a bug; without feet it's called a worm-creature.

HSK 7-9

獬豸是传说中能辨是非的神兽。

Xièzhì shì chuánshuō zhōng néng biàn shìfēi de shénshòu.

The xièzhì is a legendary creature said to discern right from wrong.

Tips

history

豸 is purely literary today. The Erya glosses it as 'creatures without feet' - worms, snakes, slug-like things - paired against 虫 'creatures with feet'. The most famous compound is 獬豸, a one-horned mythical beast that allegedly butted dishonest officials, hence its connection to imperial judges.

memory

As a radical it indexes a small zoo of long-spined mammals: 豹 (leopard), 豺 (jackal), 貂 (marten/sable), 貉 (raccoon dog). Spotting 豸 on the left tells you you're in carnivore territory.

Components

pictograph

豸 zhì

legless insect; mythical beast

Pictograph of a long-spined beast crouched to pounce - top stroke is the arched back, the curve below is the body, trailing strokes are the legs and tail. 豸 is itself a Kangxi radical (#153), indexing the cat-and-badger family: 豹 leopard, 豺 jackal, 貂 marten, 貌 appearance.

Radical

Long-Spined Beast Kangxi #153

The long-spined-beast radical. Originally a pictograph of an arched, predatory mammal - the Erya gloss contrasts 豸 ('without feet') with 虫. As a radical it indexes carnivorous mammals with elongated bodies: 豹 (leopard), 豺 (jackal), 貂 (marten), 貉 (raccoon dog). Low productivity but a reliable cue when you spot the left-side glyph.