Write “脊”(spine) in Chinese character

One character a day, easy to master Chinese characters. Let’s take a look at the basic knowledge of “脊”.

“脊” (ji，literally ridge) is an associative and pictographic character in Chinese. In the oracle bone inscriptions, the lower half of “脊” is the character “肉” (rou, meat) and the upper half resembles the vertebral column. Therefore, the character originally referred to the vertebral column. The shapes of “脊” in the small seal script and regular script are basically consistent with the ancient Chinese writing system.

Located in the highest position of the body of reptiles, often higher than the back, the backbone links the other bones and supports the whole body. Gradually, the meaning of “脊” has been extended. It is used to refer to a long, narrow, or crested part such as “山脊” (shanji, mountain ridge), “屋脊” (wuji, ridge of a house), “脊梁” (jiliang, back) and “书脊” (shuji, spine of a book). “脊梁” is also used as metaphor of people or things that serve as a support. One of the Chinese sayings “戳脊梁” (chuojiliang, poking one’s back) is used to refer to attack somebody behind the back.

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