What 谨 means
Careful conduct, sometimes with deference.
Shuowen Jiezi, an old Chinese dictionary, analyzes 謹 as 言 (“speech”) plus 堇 for its sound, and glosses it as 慎 (“cautious”). Classical texts also use 谨 for prohibition and respect. The earliest traditional form is on a bronze inscription from the late Spring and Autumn period; later forms appear on Qin-era writing slips and in seal and clerical scripts.
Formal, restrained written tone.
In casual chat, it can sound clipped or ceremonious.
What it means when someone sends it to you
2 readings谨慎 in a message
Prudent; acting with care.
谨启 at a letter close
A respectful sign-off.
Combination ideas
2Prudent; careful.
Be careful in speech and conduct.
Questions people ask
1Why does 谨 show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type 谨
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 8C28, then Alt+X to get 谨.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “cjk unified ideograph-8c28”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 8c28, then Enter or Space.
HTML
谨CSS
\8C28Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
谨
HTML hex
谨
CSS content
content: "\8C28";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E8%B0%A8
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.