Chinese character for gold (metal): 金 (jīn)
The Chinese character for gold is 金 (jīn). It means gold, metal and money, and it is also the Metal element of the five elements. It appears in 黄金 (huángjīn, gold) and 金钱 (jīnqián, money).
How 金 is built
金 is often explained as nuggets of metal buried in the earth under a covering. Look for the roof-like 人 at the top, the 王-like lines in the middle and two short dots: as a memory aid, the dots are bits of ore shining in the ground 土. As a radical on the left it becomes 钅 in simplified Chinese (金 in traditional), marking metals such as 银 (silver) and 铁 (iron).
金 jīn · gold
- 人rén — person
- 王wáng — king
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丷ha — kwukyel
- 丶 — dot
Origin hint: A cast-iron bell (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 金 is used
Other ways to say gold (metal)
- 黄金 huángjīn — gold as a material, the precious metal
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 金 is identical in both scripts and is also a common surname, Jin or Kim, which readers may think of.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for gold (metal)?
金 (jīn) means “gold”.
How do you pronounce 金?
金 is pronounced jīn.