贞 (zhēn): chaste

Meanings

1 chaste
2 virtuous
3 loyal

Characters

贞

zhēn

chaste; virtuous; loyal

Examples

HSK 5

贞操是古代社会对女性的要求。

Zhēncāo shì gǔdài shèhuì duì nǚxìng de yāoqiú.

Chastity was a requirement imposed on women in ancient society.

HSK 7-9

她是一个忠贞不渝的人。

Tā shì yīgè zhōngzhēn-bùyú de rén.

She is an unwavering and loyal person.

Tips

history

贞 originally related to divination in oracle bones. Its meaning of 'chastity' and 'steadfast virtue' developed later, becoming central to Confucian moral ideals, especially 贞节 (chastity) for women.

Components

radical

贝 bèi

cowrie shell; treasure

Bottom 贝 is the indexing radical: cowrie shell, ancient currency and emblem of value. Pairs with the divination top to suggest "a question answered truthfully, worth as much as treasure," from which came the modern senses chaste, faithful, and steadfast.

semantic

卜 bǔ

divination; to divine

Top is the divination graph 卜, a vertical with a small side stroke, picturing the crack pattern that appeared on a heated tortoise shell during Shang-era oracle reading. Originally 贞 meant "to ask the oracle a true question," and this top component carries that ritual-questioning sense.