职
Character Story & Explanation
职 is ubiquitous in modern Chinese workplaces and official life: resumes say 求职 (seeking employment), contracts list 职务 (job title), and government documents use 职级 (rank/grade). A well-known phrase is 尽职尽责 (jìn zhí jìn zé)—‘fulfill one’s duties conscientiously’—a common value in Chinese professional ethics. It appears in state media, HR systems, and civil service exams.
The character evolved from seal script; its left side 耳 is phonetic, not semantic, and the right side 只 was simplified from a more complex form meaning ‘to grasp authority’. No oracle-bone evidence survives, but by the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), 职 consistently meant ‘official post’ in texts like the Book of Han (《汉书》), where it denoted bureaucratic positions in imperial administration.
Hi students! Let’s learn 职 (zhí), a Level 4 HSK character meaning ‘office’—but more precisely, it refers to a *job position*, *duty*, or *professional role*. It’s not just a physical place like an office building (that’s 办公室 bàngōngshì); 职 emphasizes responsibility and function—think ‘job title’ or ‘post’. You’ll see it in formal contexts: job applications, company hierarchies, and official documents.
This character is built around the ‘ear’ radical (耳), which may surprise you—but historically, it’s not about hearing. Instead, 耳 here serves as a phonetic component (its ancient pronunciation was closer to zhí), while the top part (只) originally conveyed ‘to hold’ or ‘to manage’, reflecting duty and assignment. So 职 literally evokes *holding a post*.
Don’t confuse it with similar-sounding words like ‘zhi’ meaning ‘to know’ (知) or ‘to arrive’ (至). Focus on its core idea: *assigned professional function*. It appears in many compound words like 职业 (vocation), 职责 (responsibility), and 就职 (to assume office). Practice writing it carefully—11 strokes, starting with the ear radical on the left!
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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