清 — pure, clean, clear
きよい
清
pure
Grade 4
Japanese school grade level in which this kanji is taught. Grade 1 is first year of elementary school.
11 strokes
U+6E05
Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard.
Freq #705
Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common.
Heisig #1537
Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.
Meanings
- pure
- clean
- clear
word
きよ kiyo Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
せい sei On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).
Jukujikun Jukujikun Jukujikun (熟字訓) — special readings where the pronunciation applies to the whole compound word rather than individual kanji. The reading cannot be split per character.
Components
Composed of
Phono-semantic compound (形声). 氵 (water radical, from 水) gives the meaning domain — purity, clarity. 青 (sei, blue-green) provides both the sound and a connotation of freshness. Clean water is clear and blue-green.