己 (jǐ): self; oneself

Meanings

1 self; oneself

Examples

HSK 2

自己的事自己做。

Zìjǐ de shì zìjǐ zuò.

Do your own things yourself.

HSK 7-9

知己知彼。

Zhījǐ-zhībǐ.

Know yourself and know your enemy. (Sun Tzu)

Tips

usage

己 almost always appears in 自己 (oneself). Don't confuse with similar characters: 已 (already) - closed top; 巳 (6th Earthly Branch) - fully closed.

Components

pictograph

己 jǐ

self; the 6th heavenly stem

Three-stroke 己 is its own Kangxi radical and not further decomposable. The oracle-bone graph depicts a coiled silk thread or knotted cord - possibly used as a personal mnemonic tally, which gave rise to the 'self' meaning. Visually distinguish 己 (open at top right) from 已 (half-closed) and 巳 (fully closed).

Radical

Self Kangxi #49

Pictograph of a coiled silk thread — borrowed early to write 'self' and the sixth Heavenly Stem. As an indexing radical it covers a small group including 已 (already), 巳 (6th Earthly Branch), 巷 (alley), and 巴 (cling to). Productivity is low; use it mainly for character lookup.