qīng
blue-green; youthful
Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
2 senses · 6 wordsColor in context. English green or blue-green may fit different compounds; do not impose a precise modern color coordinate on all historical and literary uses.
Youth or youthfulness. This is an established lexical use, not an instruction to translate a person’s age as a color.
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 青 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.
Japanese 日本語
Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.
On’yomi · katakana
Kun’yomi · hiragana
Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 청
- Personal-name Hanja (N)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Structure & components
2 direct parts- Layout
- top bottom
- Index radical
- 靑 · 174 · 0 residual strokes
For modern visual orientation, 青 can be shown with an upper 龶-shaped part over a 月-shaped lower part. This is a graphical decomposition only. The lower part must not be labeled moon as a historical claim. CUHK’s discussion of earlier forms instead involves 生, 丹, and related historical shapes.
Follow the recorded parts
- recorded boundary
- recorded boundary
A boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
8 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences遠處的青山被霧遮住了。
远处的青山被雾遮住了。
Mist has hidden the green hills in the distance.
青菜洗好了。
The vegetables have been washed.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
3 phonetic neighboursRelated by a documented phonetic role; modern readings can differ.
Sentence context · 1 matches
附近有没有青年旅舍？
Source, contributors & licenses
Mandarin: Tatoeba #394981 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · Text editors: GlossaMatik · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: GlossaMatik
English: Tatoeba #568302 · Original contributor: CK · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log
Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.
History & distinctions
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsAn origin left open
CUHK states that the original motivation of 青’s construction is unclear. It describes early components in terms of 生 and 丹, discusses a plant-color interpretation, and records a competing stone-color explanation. The entry favors the former while retaining uncertainty. zimai therefore does not present either account as a demonstrated origin.
Use and construction are separate
The database discusses early uses for names and color, as well as readings of the graph for other words in particular texts. Those uses can be recorded without pretending that they resolve every question about why the original graph took its shape.
Reading this character · explanatory note
青 cannot be translated with one English color word in every context. 青草 is green grass, 青色 commonly names a blue-green color, and 青年 refers to young people. The word around the character matters more than a single color swatch. 青 is also a valuable entry into a sound family: it contributes historically to characters such as 清 and 情, whose other components and modern readings differ. Its own origin needs care. CUHK explicitly says that the initial motivation of its construction is unclear, even while discussing interpretations involving growing plants and color.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
青 is shared by standard simplified and traditional writing. It is not an abbreviation of 清 or 情. Its own reading qīng is one modern member of a broader sound pattern; shared historical phonetic material does not promise that all related characters have the same initial consonant or tone today.
清 qīng adds 氵 and commonly concerns clarity or cleanliness. The shared reading does not make 青 and 清 interchangeable.
情 qíng has 忄 and a second tone in ordinary Mandarin. It commonly concerns feeling or circumstances.
A 月-like lower shape in modern 青 is not evidence that the character means something assembled from a moon and its upper strokes.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- tsheng · 倉經 反切 · #931
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 7356 · tsheng = 梗開四平青清
Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗
Sources & reference
Sources & research
6 sourcesLocator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Character entry; 形義通解, 繁簡對應, and cited Shuowen discussion where present · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 2 items
- Independent specialist comparison of the competing origin accounts remains open. No exact historical reconstruction is supplied.
- Historical specimen images and their item-level dating have not been licensed or independently checked; follow the source link to inspect its evidence.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Old Chinese · reconstruction
- qīng
- *[s.r̥]ˤeŋ
MC tsheng · GSR 0812c'
Baxter & Sagart 2014 · p.109. Model-specific reconstructions; * and uncertainty brackets are preserved.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- qīng,jīng 64046.010
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- qīng 0928.050
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- qīng 303.060
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- qīng(828)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- qīng粵cing1,ceng1