起qǐ
Character evolution
起
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简体
Simplified Chinese
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Shuowen
起 (qǐ) – The oracle‑bone glyph shows a foot (止) rising from the ground (土) with an extra vertical stroke indicating upward motion, literally “to rise, to get up”. The “己” component was added as a phonetic in later bronze inscriptions, and the combined “走” (movement) + “己” (self) yields the modern meaning “to rise, to begin, to start”.
Pinyin
qǐ· HSK 1