赤 (chì) · red, bare, naked

Meanings

1 red
2 bare
3 naked
4 loyal

Characters

赤

chì

red; bare; loyal

Examples

HSK 4

赤道附近的国家很热。

Chìdào fùjìn de guójiā hěn rè.

Countries near the equator are very hot.

HSK 7-9

他赤脚走在沙滩上。

Tā chìjiǎo zǒu zài shātān shang.

He walked barefoot on the beach.

Tips

usage

赤 has multiple uses: 赤脚 (barefoot), 赤字 (deficit, lit. 'red character'), 赤道 (equator, lit. 'red path'), 赤裸裸 (stark naked / blatant). It's more literary than 红 for 'red'.

history

赤壁 (Chìbì, Red Cliffs) is one of the most famous battles in Chinese history, from the Three Kingdoms period (208 AD).

Components

pictograph

赤 chì

red; bare

Functions as Kangxi radical #155. The ancient form pictured a person 大 standing above flame 火, a body lit by firelight, glowing red. Modern strokes have flattened the upper figure into a 土-like cap, but the firelit-body image still drives both the literal color sense and the metaphorical 'bare, sincere, loyal.'

Radical

Red Kangxi #155

The 'red' radical. A compound of 大 (large) over 火 (fire), a person standing in flame, the deep red of fire-color in pre-Qin texts. Indexes very few characters (赦 'pardon', 赫 'awe-inspiring', 赭 'reddish brown'). More important as the literary alternative to 红 and as a culturally loaded color associated with the south, ritual, and revolution.