(jīng): chaste tree or berry (Vitex agnus-castus), alternative name for the Zhou Dynasty state of Chu 楚國|楚国

(jīng) is a Chinese character meaning “chaste tree or berry (vitex agnus-castus).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical (grass). It ranks #2452 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a plant 艹 armed with thorns 刂. Its radical form (grass) appears in many related characters such as (huā, flower), (chá, tea), (cài, vegetable, dish).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: grass9 strokesFrequency #2452

Definitions

  1. chaste tree or berry (Vitex agnus-castus)
  2. alternative name for the Zhou Dynasty state of Chu 楚國|楚国

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA plant 艹 armed with thorns 刂

Decomposition: ⿰⿱艹开刂 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
jīng jíthistles and thorns
pī jīng zhǎn jílit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)
fù jīng qǐng zuìlit. to bring a bramble and ask for punishment (idiom)
dà yi shī jīng zhōulit. to lose Jingzhou due to carelessness (idiom)
bān jīng xiāng duìto treat sb with courtesy (idiom)
jīng mén shìJingmen, prefecture-level city in Hubei Province 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3]
jīng chǔ wǎng shìIPTV (PRC media network)
shí jīng hèn wǎnIt is a great honor to meet you and I regret it is not sooner
jīng zhōu qūJingzhou, a district of Jingzhou City 荊州市|荆州市[Jing1 zhou1 Shi4], Hubei
jīng zhōu shìJingzhou, prefecture-level city in Hubei Province 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3]
jīng zhēn mǎn mùthorns and brambles as far as eye can see (idiom)
jīng chǔ wǎngIPTV (PRC media network)
wèn jīngfield horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
jīng ménsee 荊門市|荆门市[Jing1 men2 Shi4]
dà zǐ jīng xūn zhāngGreat Bauhinia Medal (GBM), established in 1997 as the highest award under Hong Kong's honors and awards system
26
Total compounds
54
As first character
23
As last character
23
As middle character

appears in 26 compound words: 54 as the first character, 23 as the last, and 23 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.5455,538 co-occurrences
0.5342,418 co-occurrences
zhōu
0.52222,242 co-occurrences
mén
0.4455,472 co-occurrences
0.4412,940 co-occurrences
zhǎn
0.436546 co-occurrences
chǔ
0.4181,518 co-occurrences
mán
0.413294 co-occurrences
0.4113,498 co-occurrences
0.404612 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

fùjīngqǐngzuìHSK 7+

to offer someone a humble apology, requesting punishment and forgiveness

phrase
pījīngzhǎnjíHSK 7+

to overcome different difficulties and obstacles

phrase
jīng zhēn mǎn mùHSK 7+

thorns and brambles as far as eye can see (idiom); beset by troubles

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

字由9笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

jīng zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "荆" consists of nine strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.

BastillepostApr 2026

拉丁美洲耶稣受难日巡游 信徒赤脚戴棘冠冕展虔诚

lā dīng měi zhōu yē 稣 shòu nán rì xún yóu xìn tú chì jiǎo dài jīng jí guàn 冕 zhǎn qián chéng

Hk01.comMar 2026

党|香港经济陷入“慢性窒息” 急需一块制...

zǐ jīng dǎng xiāng gǎng jīng jì xiàn rù màn xìng zhì xī jí xū yī kuài zhì . . .

StheadlineMar 2026

甜甜小记│打吡赛日“紫”盛放

tián tián xiǎo jì dǎ 吡 sài rì zǐ jīng shèng fàng

Sweet Notes│"Bauhinia" in Full Bloom on Derby Day

中時新聞網Mar 2026

...竹县长选战民调 学者示警蓝军当心“大意失州”

. . . zhú xiàn cháng xuǎn zhàn mín diào xué zhě shì jǐng lán jūn dāng xīn dà yì shī jīng zhōu

...Opinion polls on the Zhuhui County magistrate election: Scholars warn the Blue Camp to beware of "losing Jingzhou through complacency"

SmzdmMar 2026

湖北省州市为什么发展不起来?

hú běi shěng jīng zhōu shì wéi shén má fā zhǎn bù qǐ lái ?

Why hasn't Jingzhou City in Hubei Province been able to develop?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced jīng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 荆 (jīng) mean in Chinese?
荆 (jīng) primarily means "chaste tree or berry (vitex agnus-castus)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2452 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 荆 have?
荆 is written with 9 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 荆?
The radical associated with 荆 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are common words containing 荆?
Common words with 荆 include: 荆棘 (jīng jí, "thistles and thorns"); 披荆斩棘 (pī jīng zhǎn jí, "lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)"); 负荆请罪 (fù jīng qǐng zuì, "lit. to bring a bramble and ask for punishment (idiom)"); 大意失荆州 (dà yi shī jīng zhōu, "lit. to lose Jingzhou due to carelessness (idiom)"); 班荆相对 (bān jīng xiāng duì, "to treat sb with courtesy (idiom)"). There are over 26 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 荆 (jīng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jīng: 京 (capital city of a country), 经 (pass through,经典), 惊 (to startle), 睛 (eyeball), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 荆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 荆 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.