[[Characters]] #Characters \ #Society-and-Culture \ #Names-and-Surnames # 京 jīng capital of a country; abbreviation of Beijing ## Components [[亠 (tóu)]] [[口 (kǒu)]] [[小 (xiǎo)]] ## Meaning Today, the character 京 (jīng) primarily refers to the capital city. It is commonly used to denote the capital of China, Beijing. ## History The character 京 (jīng) originated as a pictographic symbol representing a man-made mound with an observation tower on top, used for political observation. In its evolution from Oracle Bone Script to Bronze Script and later to Small Seal Script, 京 (jīng) eventually became the current form. Described in the "Shuowen Jiezi," an ancient Chinese dictionary, as "人所为绝高丘也," meaning a man-made high mound. Initially, 京 (jīng) referred to such mounds. Later, it came to signify a large city with tall towers and city walls. In Oracle Bone Script, 京 (jīng) resembled a large city, with a tall pointed top representing a tower and high city walls at the bottom. Thus, the original meaning of 京 (jīng) is a high mound. Given that ancient capitals were often built on elevated terrain, 京 (jīng) became synonymous with "capital." Additionally, it is used as an adjective meaning "big" or "grand." Nowadays, 京 (jīng) is commonly used to refer to the capital of China — Beijing. ## Evolution ### Oracular Script ![[京 jia.svg]] ### Bronze Script ![[京 bronce.svg]] ### Seal Script ![[京 seal.svg]] ### Clerical Script ? ### Regular Script ![[京 reg.svg]]