Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

慈: mercy

JLPT N113 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

心 carries the meaning · 兹 gives the sound

13 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ジji · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 慈善じぜんcharity; benevolence; philanthropy
  • 慈悲じひ
  • 慈愛じあいaffection (esp. parental); love; fondness
  • 慈眼じげんmerciful eye (of a Buddha or a bodhisattva…

Also read いつくしむ, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“The ancient character once looked like a beating heart with its arteries. Today, 心 represents the very center of who we are—the place where our feelings bloom, our thoughts grow, and our spirit resides.”
More in the 心 heart story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
兹

Also built on 兹

慈 takes the 兹 family's reading, ジ (ji).

心

Also built on heart (心)

All 45

Also read ジ

27 kanji share this on'yomiAll 27

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
慈 mercy · 心
vs滋 nourishing · 氵
慈 has 心 where 滋 has 氵.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · cí

Same form: 慈 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
慈 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
慈 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin cí most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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