Jin character

斤 is a traditional unit (jin/catty) and once meant an axe.

Older 斤 pictured a wood-cutting axe or adze, a hand tool with a crosswise blade. Recognizable forms appear in inscriptions on bones, turtle shells, and bronze from China's late Shang dynasty, an early ruling house (ca. 1250–1046 BCE).

It later became a weight unit and traveled with Chinese writing to Japan and Korea. Korean reads it as 근; Japanese bakeries use it to count loaves. In 斧, 斤 remains an axe component.