Stroke order
8 strokes
Stroke order (Japan)
8 strokes

青 (Kangxi radical 174, 靑+0, 8 strokes, Cangjie input 手一月 (QMB), four-corner 50227, composition ⿱龶月)

Additional Derived Characters

  • Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1381, character 19
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 42564
  • Dae Jaweon: page 1893, character 1
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4046, character 1
  • Unihan data for U+9752
A study on the color range of Qing (青) in the Pre-Qin period.
Old Chinese
猜 *sʰlɯː
輤 *sʰleːns
綪 *sʰleːns, *ʔsreːŋ
倩 *sʰleːns, *sʰleŋs
棈 *sʰleːns
蒨 *sʰeːns
篟 *sʰeːns
生 *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs
牲 *sreŋ
笙 *sreŋ
甥 *sreŋ
鉎 *sreŋ, *sleːŋ
珄 *sreŋ
鼪 *sreŋ, *sreŋs
猩 *sreŋ, *seːŋ
狌 *sreŋ
眚 *sreŋʔ
貹 *sreŋs
崝 *zreːŋ
精 *ʔsleŋ, *ʔsleŋs
菁 *ʔsleŋ
鶄 *ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
蜻 *ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
鼱 *ʔsleŋ
婧 *ʔsleŋ, *zleŋs, *zleŋʔ
睛 *ʔsleŋ, *sʰleŋʔ
箐 *ʔsleŋ
聙 *ʔsleŋ
旌 *ʔsleŋ
清 *sʰleŋ
圊 *sʰleŋ
請 *sʰleŋʔ, *zleŋs, *zleŋ
凊 *sʰleŋs
䝼 *zleŋs, *zleŋ
靚 *zleŋs
情 *zleŋ
晴 *zleŋ
夝 *zleŋ
靜 *zleŋʔ
靖 *zleŋʔ
睲 *seŋʔ, *seːŋs
惺 *seŋʔ, *seːŋ
性 *sleŋs
姓 *sleŋs
靗 *l̥ʰeŋs
鯖 *ʔljeŋ, *sʰleːŋ
青 *sʰleːŋ
靘 *sʰleːŋ, *sʰleːŋs
掅 *sʰleːŋs
胜 *sleːŋ
曐 *sleːŋ
星 *sleːŋ
鮏 *sleːŋ
腥 *seːŋ, *seːŋs
鯹 *seːŋ
醒 *seːŋ, *seːŋʔ, *seːŋs
篂 *seːŋ

Zhang (2022): Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *sʰleːŋ): phonetic 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs) + phonetic 井 (OC *skeŋʔ). [1]

Shuowen interprets it as an ideogrammic compound of 生 (“growth of plants”) + 丹 (“cinnabar”). A variant inspired by this interpretation is 𤯞. The implication being that cinnabar, being used for dyeing, would imply “color” in general, giving the combined meaning “color of growing plants” → “blue-green”.

In the modern glyph, the top component is reduced to 龶, and the bottom component resembles the unrelated 月 (yuè, “moon”).

The second-round simplified form of the character is based on the calligraphic form of the character.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sreŋ (“to live; to be alive; to give birth; raw; green”). Cognate with 生 (OC *sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs, “to live”), 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ, “green; blue”), 性 (OC *sleŋs, “nature”), 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “surname”). Note 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ) may be an old dialect variant of 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ) (Schuessler, 2007).

Note

:

  • ceng1 - vernacular;
  • cing1 - literary.
Note

:

  • tiang1 - vernacular;
  • ten1 - literary.
Note

:

  • qiang1 - vernacular;
  • qin1 - literary.
Note

:

  • Sixian:
    • chhiâng - vernacular;
    • chhîn - literary.
  • Hailu:
    • ciangˋ - vernacular;
    • cinˋ - literary.
Note

:

  • qi1 - vernacular (e.g. 青菜 (qīngcài));
  • qing1 - literary.
Note

:

  • cháng - vernacular;
  • chéng - literary.
Note

:

  • chăng - vernacular;
  • chĭng - literary.
Note

:

  • ca1/cann1 - vernacular;
  • cing1 - literary.
Note

:

  • chhiⁿ/chheⁿ/seⁿ - vernacular;
  • chheng/seng - literary.
    • (Teochew)
    • (Leizhou)
      • Leizhou Pinyin: ce1 / qing1
      • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰɛ³⁵/, /t͡sʰiŋ³⁵/
Note

:

  • ce1 - vernacular;
  • qing1 - literary.
Note

:

  • cionn1 - vernacular;
  • cin1 - literary.
Note

:

  • qian1 - vernacular;
  • qin1 - literary.
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 青
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		qīng
Middle
Chinese 		‹ tsheng ›
Old
Chinese 		/*[s.r̥]ˁeŋ/
English green or blue

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 青
Reading # 1/1
No. 11362
Phonetic
component 		生
Rime
group 		耕
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		靑
Old
Chinese 		/*sʰleːŋ/
Notes 說文從生丹，戴桐王筠皆雲從丹生聲

青

  1. blue-green ("grue"); blue (of sky, stone etc.); green (of grass, plants, mountains etc.)
    青天  ―  qīngtiān  ―  blue sky
    青筋  ―  qīngjīn  ―  blue veins
    青草  ―  qīngcǎo  ―  green grass
    青山綠水／青山绿水  ―  qīngshānlǜshuǐ  ―  green hills and rivers
  2. blue-green ("grue")-colored items
    1. green grass
      踏青  ―  tàqīng  ―  to go on an outing to the countryside during spring
    2. crops that have not yet ripened
      青黃不接／青黄不接  ―  qīnghuángbùjiē  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  3. black (of hair, cloth, silk thread etc.)
    青絲／青丝  ―  qīngsī  ―  black hair
  4. (Southern Min) green
    青紅燈／青红灯 [Hokkien]  ―  chheⁿ-âng-teng [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  traffic light
  5. (Hong Kong) lime green
    青BB [Cantonese]  ―  ceng1 bi1 bi1 [Jyutping]  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  6. young; adolescent
    青年  ―  qīngnián  ―  youth; adolescence
    青春  ―  qīngchūn  ―  youth
  7. short for 青年 (qīngnián)
    老中青  ―  lǎozhōngqīng  ―  the old, the middle-aged and the young
    知青  ―  zhīqīng  ―  zhiqing, ""educated youth"
    覺青／觉青  ―  juéqīng  ―  "politically-awakened youth"
  8. (literary, obsolete) east
  9. (literary, obsolete) spring
  10. short for 青海 (Qīnghǎi, “Qinghai Province”)
    青藏鐵路／青藏铁路  ―  Qīng Zàng tiělù  ―  Qinghai-Tibet Railway
  11. (Hong Kong Cantonese, triad slang) knife (Classifier: 把 c)
  12. a surname

The meaning for “blue” and “black” is more commonly used in Classical Chinese, while in modern Chinese, the meaning for “green” is more common. In fact, 青 covered both green and blue ("grue") until modern times. For example, 青山綠水 / 青山绿水 (qīngshānlǜshuǐ, “hill or water green in color”), 青蘋果 / 青苹果 (qīng píngguǒ, “green apple”). However, there are still some expressions for the meaning of blue, e.g. 青天 (qīngtiān, “blue sky”), 青出於藍 / 青出于蓝 (qīngchūyúlán, “blue comes from indigo; someone performing better than their teacher”)

In Cantonese, the use of 青 to mean “black” is still used in circumstances where 黑 (hak1) would be considered inauspicious, as it is a near-homophone of 乞 (hat1, “beggar”). For example, 黑衣 (hak1 ji1) used to describe clothing would be a near-homophone of both beggar and a beggar's garment.

Others:

  • → Tocharian A: tseṃ (“blue”)
  • → Tocharian B: tseṃ m (“blue”), tseñña f
  • → Vietnamese: xanh (“green”)

青

  1. alternative form of 菁 (jīng)
    used in 青青 (jīngjīng)

青

  1. (Hokkien) alternative form of 鮮 / 鲜 (chhiⁿ)
    1. fresh
    2. (of clothes) bright; pretty; neat
  1. ^ 張富海 「説“井”」 『出土文献与古文字研究』第10輯 復旦大学出土文献与古文字研究中心編、上海古籍出版社、2022年、126-136頁。

青

(First grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. blue, cyan, azure
  2. (obsolete, poetic) green
  3. immature, unripe, young
  4. publication, record
  5. east
Alternative spelling
靑 (kyūjitai)

/sawo/ (uncertain, may be compound as opposed to root) → /awo/ → /ao/

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *awo.[1]

Appears as the latter part in older compounds with an -s- infix or prefix. It is unclear if this leading /s/ is indicative of an earlier form (sawo), or if this was an addition for euphony to avoid vowel clusters, or for other reasons. This /s/ is also seen in 雨(あめ) (ame, “rain”, becoming same in old compounds) and 稲(いね) (ine, “rice”, becoming shine in old compounds).

青(あお) • (ao) ←あを (awo)?

  1. blue
    1. one of three primary colors
    2. a shade of blue to blue green
  2. (dated) green
    青(あお)林(りん)檎(ご) ― ao ringo ― green apple
  3. short for 青信号 (aoshingō): green light (traffic light color, as the color of plants)
    Antonym: 赤 (aka)
  4. the black, bluish color of a horse's hair; also, such a horse
    Synonym: 青毛 (aoge)
    • 1603, Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nippo Jisho) [Vocabulary of the Language of Japan] (in Portuguese), Nagasaki, page 39:
      [5]
      Auo. アヲ (青) 馬の毛色で, 全体に黒くて青みがあり, 両耳の内側に多少白いところのあるもの. この部分の毛も他の部分と同じようにすっかり黒い時には, Curo(黒)と呼ばれる.
  5. (card games, hanafuda) short for 青短 (aotan): one of the three hanafuda cards bearing a blue 短冊 (tanzaku, “narrow card used for poetry”); a 役 (yaku) of the three aotan cards, worth 3 points
  6. (card games) a blue card in 天正カルタ (Tenshō karuta)
  7. short for 青本 (aohon, “a blue-green covered book containing summaries of plays, histories, and legends”)
  8. short for 青銭 (aosen, “a 4 mon coin in circulation from 1768”)
Colors in Japanese · 色(いろ) (iro) (layout · text)
     白(しろ) (shiro)      灰(はい)色(いろ) (haiiro),
鼠(ねずみ)色(いろ) (nezumiiro) (dated) 		     黒(くろ) (kuro)
             赤(あか) (aka); 深(しん)紅(く) (shinku),
クリムゾン (kurimuzon),
紅(べに)色(いろ) (beniiro),
紅(くれない)色(いろ) (kurenaiiro),
茜(あかね)色(いろ) (akaneiro) 		             橙(だいだい)色(いろ) (daidaiiro),
オレンジ (orenji); 茶(ちゃ)色(いろ) (chairo),
褐(かっ)色(しょく) (kasshoku) 		             黄(き)色(いろ) (kiiro); クリーム色(いろ) (kurīmuiro)
             黄(き)緑(みどり) (kimidori)              緑(みどり) (midori),
青(あお) (ao) (dated) 		             若(わか)緑(みどり) (wakamidori)
             水(みず)色(いろ) (mizuiro),
シアン (shian); 鴨(かも)の羽(はね)色(いろ) (kamo no hane iro) 		             空(そら)色(いろ) (sorairo),
縹(はなだ) (hanada);
青(あお) (ao) 		             紺(こん)藍(あい) (kon'ai);
紺(こん) (kon)
             菫(すみれ)色(いろ) (sumireiro); 藍(あい)色(いろ) (aiiro),
インジゴ (injigo) 		             赤(あか)紫(むらさき) (akamurasaki),
マゼンタ (mazenta); 紫(むらさき) (murasaki) 		             桃(もも)色(いろ) (momoiro),
ピンク (pinku)

青(あお) • (ao-) ←あを (awo-)?

  1. unripe, young

青(あお) • (Ao) ←あを (Awo)?

  1. a female given name
  2. a surname
Alternative spelling
靑 (kyūjitai)

From Middle Chinese 青 (MC tsheng).

青(せい) • (sei) 

  1. the color blue

青(せい) • (Sei) 

  1. a female given name
  2. a surname
Alternative spellings
靑 (kyūjitai)
𤯝
眚

Unknown. The reading might be an obscure term from Old Japanese or dialect. The use of the character 青 arises from its 宋音(そうおん) (sōon, “Song-dynasty pronunciation”).[6]

青(しい) • (shii) 

  1. (rare, archaic, mythology) a beast that looks like a weasel, and is said to have lived in present-day Fukuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures
  2. (rare, archaic, mythology) a beast that looks like a wolf, and is said to have appeared around Mount Yoshino
  1. ^ Thomas Pellard. Ryukyuan perspectives on the proto-Japonic vowel system. Frellesvig, Bjarke; Sells, Peter. Japanese/Korean Linguistics 20, CSLI Publications, pp.81–96, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 “あお［あを］ 【青】Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. ^ Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN
  5. ^ Doi, Tadao (1603–1604), Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.
  6. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

青 (eumhun 푸를 청 (pureul cheong))

  1. alternative form of 靑 (“blue; green”)

青: Hán Việt readings: thanh[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
青: Nôm readings: xanh[1][2][3][4], thênh[1][2][4], thanh[1][2], thinh[1]

  1. chữ Hán form of thanh (“(only in compounds) grue (green or blue)”)
  2. chữ Nôm form of thanh (“(somewhat literary or formal) Indicates long, thin, inflexible objects, such as swords, planks, metal strips, etc.”)
  3. chữ Nôm form of thênh (“vast; spacious”)
  4. chữ Nôm form of thinh (“(only in compounds) silent, speechless”)
  5. chữ Nôm form of xanh (“grue”)