鸡血石

雞血石

jīxuěshí

noun

Measure Word

一块鸡血石 kuài

Meanings

1 chicken-blood stone (red-flecked dickite/chalcedony, traditional Chinese seal-carving stone)
2 bloodstone
3 heliotrope (mineralogy)

Characters

blood (colloquial reading)

Examples

这方印章是用昌化鸡血石刻的。

Zhè fāng yìnzhāng shì yòng Chānghuà jīxuěshí kè de.

This seal is carved from Changhua chicken-blood stone.

上等鸡血石的红色越鲜越值钱。

Shàngděng jīxuěshí de hóngsè yuè xiān yuè zhíqián.

The brighter the red of high-grade chicken-blood stone, the more valuable it is.

Tips

culture

One of the 'Four Famous Seal Stones' (四大印石) of China, alongside 寿山石, 青田石, and 巴林石. The most prized variety comes from Changhua (昌化) in Zhejiang. The 'blood' is iron-rich cinnabar veining; collectors grade it by the brightness, evenness, and area of the red.

memory

Read literally: 鸡 ('chicken') + 血 ('blood') + 石 ('stone'). 血 here takes the colloquial reading xuě (not the literary xuè) in this fixed name.

Stroke Order

鸡 jī

血 xuè

石 shí