Stroke order

Stroke order

知 (Kangxi radical 111, 矢+3, 8 strokes, cangjie input 人大口 (OKR), four-corner 8640₀, composition ⿰矢口)

• 倁, 椥, 蜘, 踟, 智, 㲛, 聟, 䝷, 䣽, 鼅, 䓡, 痴

• ち (Hiragana character derived from Man'yōgana)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 824, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 23935
• Dae Jaweon: page 1235, character 27
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2581, character 2
• Unihan data for U+77E5

Originally the same character as 智, used interchangeably. In oracle bone inscriptions, ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 大 (“adult”) + 口 (“mouth”) + 子 (“child”) – to transmit knowledge. In the Warring States period, 大 corrupted into 矢 (OC *hliʔ) and became a sound component. In Western Han script the component 子 started being dropped, arriving at the modern form.

The two pronunciations are cognate. The word is possibly of Sino-Tibetan origin, compare Mizo hria, hriat (“to know”), Jingpho chye (“to know”), Tibetan རིག (rig, “to know”) (Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with 智 (OC *ʔl'es).

知

1. to know; to understand; to comprehend

   知人知面不知心  ―  zhī rén zhī miàn bù zhī xīn  ―  One may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature

   我唔知。   ―  ngo⁵ m⁴ zi¹.   ―  I don't know.

   • 「亢」之為言也，知進而不知退，知存而不知亡，知得而不知喪。其唯聖人乎！知進退存亡而不失其正者，其唯聖人乎！
     「亢」之为言也，知进而不知退，知存而不知亡，知得而不知丧。其唯圣人乎！知进退存亡而不失其正者，其唯圣人乎！

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     “kàng” zhī wéi yán yě, zhī jìn ér bù zhī tuì, zhī cún ér bù zhī wáng, zhī dé ér bù zhī sàng. Qí wéi shèngrén hū! Zhī jìntuìcúnwáng ér bù shī qí zhèng zhě, qí wéi shèngrén hū!

     The force of that phrase - 'exceeding the proper limits' - indicates the knowing to advance but not to retire; to maintain but not to let perish to get but not to lose. He only is the sage who knows to advance and to retire, to maintain and to let perish; and that without ever acting incorrectly. Yes, he only is the sage!

   • 子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」
     子曰：「由！诲女知之乎？知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。」

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐ yuē: “Yóu! Huì rǔ zhì zhī hū? Zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī, shì zhì yě.”

     The Master said, "You, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge."

2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to cause to know; to tell; to inform

   通知  ―  tōngzhī  ―  to inform

   你去到就話我知啦
   你去到就话我知啦

   nei⁵ heoi³ dou³ zau⁶ waa⁶ ngo⁵ zi¹ laa¹

   Let me know when you arrive.

3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to administer; to take charge of

   知縣／知县  ―  zhīxiàn  ―  governor of a county

   知客  ―  zhīkè  ―  receptionist at a ceremony

4. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to distinguish
5. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to appreciate
6. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to be close friends; close friends

   知己  ―  zhījǐ  ―  close friend

   知友  ―  zhīyǒu  ―  close friend

7. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to perceive

   知驚未？／知惊未？   ―  zi¹ geng¹ mei⁶?   ―  Are you afraid now? (literally, “Do you feel the fright now?”)

8. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) to participate in; to have a hand in
9. (Hakka, including Changting, Xiaosanjiang, Shicheng) to hear; to listen
10. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) knowledge

    求知  ―  qiúzhī  ―  to seek knowledge

    無知／无知  ―  wúzhī  ―  ignorant

11. (～母) (Chinese linguistics) the Middle Chinese initial of 知 (MC trje)

知

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) Original form of 智 (zhì, “knowing, wisdom, intelligence”).

   • 子曰：「由！誨女知之乎？知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。」
     子曰：「由！诲女知之乎？知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。」

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐ yuē: “Yóu! Huì rǔ zhì zhī hū? Zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī, shì zhì yě.”

     The Master said, "You, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge."

• “知”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “知”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• “知”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• 李如龙 , 刘福铸 , 吴华英 , 黄国城 (2019) “知”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 159.

• 智 (non-daiyōji)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. to know
2. wisdom

• Go-on: ち (chi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: ち (chi, Jōyō)
• Kun: しる (shiru, 知る, Jōyō)、しらせる (shiraseru, 知らせる)
• Nanori: さとる (satoru)、とも (tomo)、さとし (satoshi)、さとり (satori)、ちか (chika)、ちさき (chisaki)、つかさ (tsukasa)、ともこ (tomoko)

From Middle Chinese 智 (MC trjeH).

• (Tokyo) ち (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

知(ち) • (chi) 

1. wisdom

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

知

Wikisource

知 (eumhun 알 지 (al ji))

1. hanja form^? of 지 (“know”)

• 知人 (지인, ji-in): acquaintance
• 知識 (지식, ji-sik) : knowledge

知: Hán Việt readings: tri, trí
知: Nôm readings: tri, trơ

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.