ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

machine; opportunity

6 strokes · 木 (wood radical) + 几 (small table, sound jī) · HSK 2

Where 机 comes from

The traditional 機 was the wooden loom — the most intricate machine ancient China knew, whose trigger mechanism also fired crossbows. From the loom's critical moment came 机's second life: the pivotal instant, the opportunity.

机 in Chinese culture

手机 hand-machine is your phone; 飞机 flying-machine, the airplane; 机场 the airport; 司机 the driver. And 机会 is opportunity — the machine-moment when things could go either way. One character runs China's hardware and its luck.

Example

手机 shǒujī — mobile phone

我的手机呢?
Wǒ de shǒujī ne?
Where's my phone?

How to remember it

Wood 木 loom, the first MACHINE — and every MOMENT of opportunity it weaves.

危机 'danger-machine' is crisis. The motivational claim that it means 'danger + opportunity' bends the etymology — the 机 here is the critical pivot-point — but the speech-circuit loves it anyway.

Same sound, different tones

1st jī
machine
2nd jí
urgent
3rd jǐ
how many
4th jì
to remember

Words unlocked by 机

手机 shǒujī
mobile phone
飞机 fēijī
airplane
机场 jīchǎng
airport
机会 jīhuì
opportunity

Related characters

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