涇

Phono-semantic compound:

Semantic: 水 (“water”) - indicates relation to rivers and flow.

Phonetic: 巠 (gyeong / jing) - “stream, channel,” lending sound.

Originally used to denote a specific river, later extended to meanings of flowing, straightness, and clarity.

涇水 (경수) — the Jing River, tributary of the Wei River in Shaanxi

涇川 (경천) — Jingchuan, a place named after the river

涇渭 (경위) — the Jing and Wei rivers; also metaphorically “clear distinction”

The Jing River (涇水) is a major tributary of the Wei River (渭水).

The phrase 涇渭分明 (“as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers”) is a famous idiom meaning to distinguish clearly between right and wrong, purity and impurity.

This comes from the fact that the Jing River’s waters are muddy, while the Wei River’s waters are clear, and when they merge, the boundary between them remains sharply defined.

Widely referenced in classical Chinese poetry and moral writings as a metaphor for clarity in judgment and distinction of principles.