筋 (jīn): muscle, tendon, veins visible under the skin

筋 (jīn) is a Chinese character meaning “muscle.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (structural) and 肋 (structural). It ranks #2196 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 筋 bamboo-like ⺮ tendons in the chest 肋. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. muscle
  2. tendon
  3. veins visible under the skin

Etymology & Origin

筋

ideographicBamboo-like ⺮ tendons in the chest 肋

Decomposition: ⿱⺮肋 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing 筋 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
抽筋verbchōu jīncramp
脑筋nounnǎo jīnbrains
筋疲力尽phrasejīn pí lì jìnbody weary, strength exhausted (idiom)
伤脑筋adjectiveshāng nǎo jīnto be a real headache
钢筋noungāng jīnsteel reinforcing bar
动脑筋verbdòng nǎo jīnto use one's brains
筋骨nounjīn gǔmuscles and bones
筋斗nounjīn dǒutumble
橡皮筋nounxiàng pí jīnrubber band
皮筋nounpí jīnrubber band
青筋nounqīng jīnveins
筋络nounjīn luòtendons and muscles
一根筋adjectiveyī gēn jīnstubborn
马利筋mǎ lì jīntropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica)
少根筋shǎo gēn jīn(coll.) dim-witted
48
Total compounds
23
As first character
42
As last character
35
As middle character

筋 appears in 48 compound words: 23 as the first character, 42 as the last, and 35 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 筋 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

凝níng
0.6934,652 co-occurrences
钢gāng
0.6604,050 co-occurrences
混hùn
0.5804,862 co-occurrences
疲pí
0.573796 co-occurrences
土tǔ
0.5254,830 co-occurrences
橡xiàng
0.507472 co-occurrences
膜mó
0.484614 co-occurrences
泥ní
0.468776 co-occurrences
抽chōu
0.449526 co-occurrences
肉ròu
0.449840 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

低筋面粉dījīn miànfěnHSK 7+

low-gluten flour

noun
豆渣脑筋dòu zhā nǎo jīnHSK 7+

idiot; porridge head

phrase
高筋面粉gāojīn miànfěnHSK 7+

high-gluten flour; strong flour

noun
筋疲力尽jīnpílìjìnHSK 7+

to be exhausted; to be worn out

phrase
伤筋动骨shāngjīndònggǔHSK 7+

to have a sprain or fracture; to suffer from serious injury; to have major mishap or changes

phrase
中筋面粉zhōngjīn miànfěnHSK 7+

medium-gluten flour

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个筋字的意思与它的部首有关。

zhè gě jīn zì de yì sī yú tā de bù shǒu yǒu guān .

The meaning of the character "筋" is related to its radical.

爱范儿Sep 2026

对于奥迪这类根基深厚的传统豪华品牌来说,一次传播事故或许伤不到筋骨。

duì yú ào dí zhè lèi gēn jī shēn hòu de chuán tǒng háo huá pǐn pái lái shuō , yī cì chuán bō shì gù huò xǔ shāng bù dào jīn gǔ .

For a long-established, traditional luxury brand like Audi, a single public relations mishap may not do it any real harm.

TvbsApr 2026

每天公园拉筋半小时!68岁妇“腿肌肉不增反减” 医揭...

měi tiān gōng yuán lā jīn bàn xiǎo shí ! 6 8 suì fù tuǐ jī ròu bù zēng fǎn jiǎn yī jiē . . .

"Stretching in the park for half an hour every day! 68-year-old woman's 'leg muscles shrink instead of growing'—doctor explains..."

SmzdmMar 2026

张雪机车的三年窗口期:从“一根筋”造车到WSBK夺冠

zhāng xuě jī chē de sān nián chuāng kǒu qī : cóng yī gēn jīn zào chē dào W S B K duó guàn

Zhang Xue’s Three-Year Journey in Motorcycle Racing: From Single-Minded Dedication to Building Bikes to Winning the WSBK Championship

SmzdmMar 2026

这手套膜到底怎么判断啊?面筋网络又是什么?

zhè shǒu tào mó dào de zěn má pàn duàn a ? miàn jīn wǎng lào yòu shì shén má ?

How exactly do you evaluate this glove film? And what is the gluten network?

工商時報Mar 2026

原料行情高挂 丰兴钢筋续涨

yuán liào háng qíng gāo guà fēng xīng gāng jīn xù zhǎng

With raw material prices remaining high, Fengxing rebar continues to rise

Tatoeba

汤姆完全筋疲力尽了。

Tāngmǔ wánquán jīnpílìjìn le.

Tom was all worn out.

Tatoeba

他大喊的时候,脖子上青筋暴起。

Tā dàhǎn de shíhou, bózi shàng qīngjīn bào qǐ.

When he shouted, the veins in his neck stood out clearly.

Tatoeba

我刚刚腿又抽筋了,痛死我了。

Wǒ gānggang tuǐ yòu chōujīn le, tòng sǐ wǒ le.

I just got another leg cramp and it hurts like hell.

Tatoeba

“拜个不够行的师父,很伤脑筋吧?” “我也很笨,所以没关系。”

"bài gè bù gòu xíng de shīfu, hěn shāngnǎojīn ba?" "wǒ yě hěn bèn, suǒyǐ méiguānxi."

"It must bother you to have taken a bad master." "I'm stupid too. So, it's all right."

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced jīn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 筋 (jīn) mean in Chinese?
筋 (jīn) primarily means "muscle." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2196 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 筋 have?
筋 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 筋?
The radical associated with 筋 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 筋?
筋 is composed of: ⺮ (structural), 肋 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮肋 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 筋?
Common words with 筋 include: 抽筋 (chōu jīn, "cramp"); 脑筋 (nǎo jīn, "brains"); 筋疲力尽 (jīn pí lì jìn, "body weary, strength exhausted (idiom)"); 伤脑筋 (shāng nǎo jīn, "to be a real headache"); 钢筋 (gāng jīn, "steel reinforcing bar"). There are over 48 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 筋 (jīn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jīn: 进 (to enter), 今 (now), 金 (metal, gold), 近 (near), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 筋 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 筋 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 筋 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.