How to Write 觐 (jìn) — Meaning “To have an audience with (a monarch)”

Imagine a person (left side 堇) bowing deeply as they 'see' (见) the emperor — the left part looks like a kneeling figure with a crown. The key is linking the sound 'jìn' to 'jin' as in 'king', so you remember you need permission to 'jin' (enter) the palace to be seen.

The left part 堇 has a narrow top (two horizontal strokes close together) and a wider bottom with a vertical stroke crossing through. A common mistake is making the right side's 见 too wide — keep it balanced, with the 见's final horizontal stroke slightly shorter than the left side's bottom.

觐 (jìn) means 'to have an audience with a monarch', while 觎 (yú) is only used in 觊觎 (jìyú, 'to covet') and never alone. 觏 (gòu) means 'to meet' but is very rare in modern Chinese. Visually, 觐 has 堇 on the left, 觎 has 俞, and 觏 has 冓 — note the different left-side components.

觐 is used in formal, historical, or religious contexts — for example, 觐见 (jìnjiàn) describes a subject meeting a monarch, and 朝觐 (cháojìn) refers to a pilgrimage to a holy place or an audience with a spiritual leader. It is not common in daily speech, but appears in news about royal visits or religious pilgrimages.

Common words containing 觐 include: 觐见 (jìn jiàn) — to have an audience with; 朝觐 (cháo jìn) — To go on a pilgrimage; to have an audience with a monarch; 觐礼 (jìn lǐ) — audience ceremony.