义 yì justice; righteousness; meaning
Made up of [丿 piě 'slash' radical 4, 丶 zhǔ dot radical 3]Alternative traditional form of character: 義
Made with 3 strokes.
Much simplified from original form showing an aggressive person being made as docile as a sheep. Modern form is balanced and symmetric
Ancient small seal form
Related characters
Also uses 丿 piě component: 必 bì (certainly) 弟 dì (younger brother) 乎 hū (at) 久 jiǔ (long time) 九 jiǔ (nine) 乐 lè (music) 么 me (what) 乃 nǎi (to be) 年 nián (year) 少 shǎo (less) 生 shēng (produce) 失 shī (to lose) 勿 wù (do not) 戊 wù (fifth (ordinal)) 午 wǔ (noon) 之 zhī (him) 族 zú (clan)
Also uses 丶 zhǔ component: 白 bái (bright) 半 bàn (half) 冰 bīng (ice) 弟 dì (younger brother) 兑 duì (to cash) 丽 lì (beautiful) 良 liáng (good) 令 lìng (to order) 铺 pù (store) 勺 sháo (spoon) 术 shù (method) 苏 sū (revive) 太 tài (too) 往 wǎng (towards) 为 wèi (do) 乌 wū (crow) 尤 yóu (outstanding) 玉 yù (jade) 州 zhōu (prefecture) 住 zhù (to live) 主 zhǔ (owner) 自 zì (from)
Sounds same
易 yì (easy) 亿 yì (100,000,000) 益 yì 亦 yì (also) 邑 yì (city) 弋 yì (catch) 艺 yì (skill) 忆 yì (to recollect) 意 yì (idea) 异 yì (different)Different tone
一 yī (one) 医 yī (doctor) 衤 yī (clothes) 衣 yī (clothes) 颐 yí 宜 yí (proper) 夷 yí (barbarians) 乚 yǐ (hidden) 以 yǐ (to use) 椅 yǐ (chair) 已 yǐ (already) 乙 yǐ (twist)Stroke order for character 义, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚
Cities
遵义 Zunyi, Guizhou义乌 Yiwu, Zhejiang
Proverbs
见义勇为 jiàn yì yǒng wéi To see what is right and act with courage忘恩负义 wàng ēn fù yì Ungratefully forget to acknowledge a favor.
大义灭亲 dà yì miè qīn Prepared to kill one's own family to keep to the law. Back in the Spring and Autumn Period a father, Shi Que, uncovered the murder of the king of Wei was done by a treasonous group which included his own son Shi Hou. Believing he could not show him special treatment he had him executed.
多行不义必自毙 duō xíng bù yì bì zì bì Turning to bad deeds will ultimately bring ruin. This is a form of Karma - divine justice will catch up with you one day