粳 (jīng): round-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)

粳 (jīng) is a Chinese character meaning “round-grained nonglutinous rice (japonica rice).” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 米 (semantic) and 更 (phonetic). It ranks #9999 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 粳 rice. Its radical form 米 (rice) appears in many related characters such as 粗 (cū, (of sth long) wide), 粉 (fěn, powder), 精 (jīng, essence).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. round-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)

Etymology & Origin

粳

pictophoneticrice

Decomposition: ⿰米更 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
粳米nounjīng mǐpolished round-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)
粳稻nounjīng dàoround-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)
2
Total compounds
100
As first character
0
As last character
0
As middle character

粳 appears in 2 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

调理凉燥,可以取少量杏仁搭配粳米煮粥,温润止咳,适合早晨食用。

diào lǐ liáng zào , kě yǐ qǔ shǎo liàng xìng rén dā pèi jīng mǐ zhǔ zhōu , wēn rùn zhǐ ké , shì hé zǎo chén shí yòng .

To treat "cool dryness," you can cook a small amount of almonds with japonica rice to make congee, which has a warming and moistening effect and helps relieve coughs; it’s best eaten in the morning.

中国新闻网·生活Jul 2026

以粳米炒制的米粉,味甘性平,焦香入脾,能补中益气、健脾和胃。

yǐ jīng mǐ chǎo zhì de mǐ fěn , wèi gān xìng píng , jiāo xiāng rù pí , néng bǔ zhōng yì qì , jiàn pí hé wèi .

Rice noodles made from glutinous rice have a sweet taste and neutral nature; their toasty aroma stimulates the spleen, and they help tonify the middle burner, boost qi, strengthen the spleen, and harmonize the stomach.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

其中稻谷品种又分籼、粳、黏、糯,做法也多种多样。

qí zhōng dào gǔ pǐn zhǒng yòu fēn 籼 , jīng , nián , nuò , zuò fǎ yě duō zhǒng duō yàng .

Rice varieties are further classified into indica, japonica, glutinous, and sticky rice, and there are many different ways to prepare them.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 米 (rice) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 粳 (jīng) mean in Chinese?
粳 (jīng) primarily means "round-grained nonglutinous rice (japonica rice)." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #9999 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 粳 and 硬?
粳 (jīng) and 硬 (yìng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 米 vs 石 (same 更 component).
How many strokes does 粳 have?
粳 is written with 13 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 粳?
The radical associated with 粳 is 米 (rice). This radical appears in many characters related to rice.
What are the components of 粳?
粳 is composed of: 米 (semantic), 更 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰米更 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 粳?
Common words with 粳 include: 粳米 (jīng mǐ, "polished round-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)"); 粳稻 (jīng dào, "round-grained nonglutinous rice (Japonica rice)"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.
Is 粳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 粳 and the traditional form is 秔.

Practice writing 粳 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.