青 qīng blue-green
blue-green; black; young; youth
How to remember 青: 龶 plant + ⺝ moon = blue-green. The old fisherman says every plant in the lake wakes up under a full moon, when the water turns blue-green.
Component breakdown
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
青 = 龶 plant + ⺝ moon
- 龶 plant sound
- ⺝ moon sound
The old fisherman says every plant in the lake wakes up under a full moon, when the water turns blue-green.
How it came to be
The oldest form is a growing plant over a box with a dot in it; the box later came to look like the moon.
How it is used
- A color word spanning green/blue/black depending on context, plus 'young'. 青草 (qīngcǎo) green grass, 青天 (qīngtiān) blue sky, 青丝 black hair.
- 青年 (qīngnián) = youth/young people; 青春 (qīngchūn) = youth (the time of life): 青春期 (qīngchūnqī) puberty.
- 青睐 (qīnglài) = favor/preference ('to look on with favor').