金 (jīn) · gold, metal, money

Meanings

1 gold
2 metal
3 money

Characters

金

jīn

gold; metal; money

A pictograph of gold nuggets buried in the earth. Also the radical for metal-related characters (钅).

Examples

HSK 4

金色的秋天很美。

Jīnsè de qiūtiān hěn měi.

The golden autumn is beautiful.

HSK 6

这个戒指是金的。

Zhège jièzhi shì jīn de.

This ring is made of gold.

HSK 7-9

真金不怕火炼。

Zhēn jīn bú pà huǒ liàn.

True gold fears no fire. (Proverb: the genuine article can withstand any test)

Tips

culture

金 is one of the five elements (五行) in Chinese philosophy: 金 (metal), 木 (wood), 水 (water), 火 (fire), 土 (earth).

usage

金 appears in many surnames (金) and place names. It's also the Korean/Kim surname character.

Components

pictograph

金 jīn

gold; metal

Self-radical (Kangxi #167) - 金 indexes itself and stays as one pictographic component. The shape is a covered smelter: the inverted-V roof, two short strokes inside as ore nuggets, 土 below for the dug-up earth. A cross-section of an ancient metalworking pit. Anchors the metal family - 钱, 铁, 银, 钢, 铜 - via the left-side 钅.

Radical

Metal Kangxi #167

The metal radical. Originally a pictograph of nuggets covered with earth - gold mined from the ground, then generalized to all metals. Hugely productive; the simplified left-form 钅 heads almost every metal, tool, instrument, coin, and weapon: 钱, 银, 铁, 钢, 钟, 锁, 针, 锅, 镜, 锤. The 'industrial' radical of modern Chinese.