里
lining; interior; inside; internal; surname Li; li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m; neighborhood; ancient administrative unit of 25 families; (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhen4] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lin2] levels
Closest English meanings
inside·village·li
The Calligrapher — Qiú Jìng 仇靖
Han clerical-script master famed for the Xixia Song stele.
Han calligrapher (), master of clerical script — known for 《西狭颂》. Han dynasty
Cultural Story
The Rites of Zhou fixed that five families made a 邻 and five 邻 a 里, the village unit where neighbors watched and aided one another under the same wall. The 里 was also the measure of three hundred paces, the length a traveler counted. From those old counts the character kept both the hamlet and the distance, the place one lives and the road one walks.
Common words & phrases
- 里面 inside
- 这里 here
- 哪里 where
- 心里 heart · mind
- 公里 kilometer
- 邻里 neighbors
Read the story behind the character
A road sign posts the next town at twelve 公里, a 邻里 group plans the block festival, and a message asks what is in your 心里 tonight. The 里面 of the drawer holds the keys. The 这里 is where the bus stops. The character now measures a highway and a feeling, the old village unit and the old pace carried into a sign and a quiet question about the heart.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Qiú Jìng 仇靖, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.