髻 (jì) · hair bun; topknot; coiled hair fastened on the head

Meanings

1 hair bun; topknot; coiled hair fastened on the head

Characters

髻

jì

hair bun

Examples

HSK 7-9

新娘把头发梳成一个优雅的发髻。

Xīnniáng bǎ tóufa shū chéng yī gè yōuyǎ de fàjì.

The bride has her hair styled into an elegant bun.

HSK 7-9

唐代仕女喜欢梳高耸繁复的发髻。

Tángdài shìnǚ xǐhuan shū gāosǒng fánfù de fàjì.

Tang-dynasty ladies favoured tall, elaborate hairdos.

HSK 7-9

芭蕾舞演员通常把头发扎成紧实的低髻。

Bālěiwǔ yǎnyuán tōngcháng bǎ tóufa zā chéng jǐnshí de dī jì.

Ballet dancers usually tie their hair in a tight low bun.

Tips

usage

Everyday compound: 发髻 (hair bun) - the term you will read in novels, fashion writing, and bridal-hair tutorials. Specialised forms include 椎髻 (mallet-shaped bun, the standard Han-Chinese style), 双髻 (twin buns - the classic young-girl hairstyle in period dramas), 高髻 (tall bun, characteristic of Tang court ladies). In premodern China both women and men wore 髻 - men adopted a topknot at the coming-of-age ceremony, and an unbound head was a sign of mourning or chaos.

culture

Hairstyles in Chinese fiction signal status and life-stage. Two girlish 双髻 buns = unmarried young woman or servant girl. A single coiled 髻 on top = adult / married. Loose unbound hair on an adult = grief, illness, or extreme intimacy. The bun is not just decoration - it is a social uniform.

Components

radical

髟 biāo

long flowing hair (radical)

Top long-hair radical (Kangxi #190). Marks the character as hair-related. Same radical family: 髭 (moustache), 髯 (whiskers), 鬓 (temple hair).

phonetic

吉 jí

auspicious; supplying the sound

Bottom phonetic 吉 - supplies the sound (jí to jì, regular tone shift). The same phonetic anchors 结 (tie / knot - semantically apt, since a 髻 is hair tied into a knot), 洁 (clean), 颉 (surname / hop).