赤 (chì): red

Meanings

1 red
2 bare
3 naked
4 loyal

Characters

赤

chì

red; bare; loyal

Examples

他赤脚走在沙滩上。

Tā chìjiǎo zǒu zài shātān shang.

He walked barefoot on the beach.

赤道附近的国家很热。

Chìdào fùjìn de guójiā hěn rè.

Countries near the equator are very hot.

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.