尽
Mnemonic
A monk plays his shakuhachi on a vast sheet of ice, pouring every ounce of breath into the flute. Each note cracks the ice further. He keeps playing until he completely exhausts himself—collapsing on the shattered frozen surface with nothing left inside him to give.
Additional thoughts
Picture the breath visibly leaving the monk as vapor in the cold, each exhale literally depleting him. The cracking ice mirrors how everything is being used up, spent, broken down to nothing.Quick recall
A monk blows his shakuhachi on the ice until he fully exhausts every last breath.Details
The keyword for 尽 is exhaust. This kanji conveys the idea of using something up completely, depleting all resources, or reaching the very end of something. It carries the sense of leaving nothing remaining, whether applied to physical supplies, energy, effort, or even abstract concepts like patience or possibilities. In essence, it represents the thorough and total consumption or fulfillment of something until nothing is left.
- On'yomi
- じん、さん
- Kun'yomi
- つ.きる、つ.くす、つ.かす、-づ.く、-ず.く、ことごと.く