筋 (jīn): muscle; tendon; sinew

Measure Word

一根筋 gēn

Meanings

1 muscle; tendon; sinew
2 veins visible under the skin
3 fiber; anything resembling tendons

Characters

筋

jīn

tendon; muscle; sinew

Examples

他跑步拉伤了筋。

Tā pǎobù lā shāng le jīn.

He pulled a tendon while running.

她脑子里就一根筋。

Tā nǎozi lǐ jiù yī gēn jīn.

She's very single-minded (literally: only one tendon in her brain).

Tips

usage

一根筋 (yī gēn jīn) is a colloquial expression meaning stubborn or single-minded. 伤筋动骨 (shāngjīn dònggǔ) means a serious injury involving tendons and bones.

memory

The bamboo radical 竹 on top (because tendons are fibrous like bamboo) + 肋 (rib-like structure) + 力 (strength) — tendons give your muscles strength.

Components

radical

⺮ zhú

bamboo (top-form radical)

Top bamboo radical — the compressed cap-form of 竹, two short bamboo leaves drooping side by side. The indexing element. Why bamboo for muscle? Because bamboo's tough longitudinal fibres, when split lengthwise, look exactly like the parallel strands of sinew under skin — the same visual metaphor English keeps in 'fibrous tissue.'

semantic

⺼ ròu

flesh; body (radical form of 肉)

Lower-left meat-flesh radical — the side-form of 肉, identical in shape to 月 but a different element (flesh, not moon). Contributes the bodily anchor: muscle, tendon, and visible vein are all parts of the living body. Pairs with bamboo above to give the picture of fibrous tissue inside flesh.

semantic

力 lì

strength; power

Lower-right 力 — a pictograph of a flexed arm or plough handle, the classical symbol of physical strength. It completes the picture: bamboo-fibre + flesh + strength = the contractile tissue that produces force. A tightly built compound ideograph whose meaning falls out of its parts.