精
jīng · HSK 6
essence
🌾💎 米 rice + 青 green = the pure extract of young grain
Refining rice to its greenest, youngest state yields the vital essence. The character captures distillation — raw grain reduced to its concentrated core energy.
精 — rice 米 + blue/green 青 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 米 (rice) gives the meaning, while 青 supplies the sound. Originally referred to polished, refined rice — grain with the husk removed. The sense broadened to 'refined, pure, essence,' and later 'fine, skilled, spirit.'