- Chinese Character Radicals – Simplified
Similar to Chinese Pinyin Table, the Chinese Radical Table – Simplified lists all the radicals for the simplified Chinese characters. There are 214 radicals in the original Kangxi radical list, but a few of them are no longer used in the simplified Chinese. The list of Chinese radicals is a rough equivalent of a Chinese alphabet. They are used to index the characters for Chinese dictionaries. They are also building blocks of the Chinese characters and often reflecting some common semantic or phonetic characteristic. Knowing common radicals can greatly help you learn new Chinese characters.
To look up a character, you can click the radical. The system will navigate to the dictionary page and display all the characters with the same radical. If you know the Pinyin, you can use Chinese Pinyin Table to look up characters.
To generate Chinese character radical worksheets for offline practice, you can go to the Chinese worksheets page, click the Chinese Character Radicals link on the side bar and then press the Generate Worksheets button.
If you are learning traditional Chinese characters, switch to Chinese Radical Table – Traditional.
Order by: Radical Number Stroke Count Pinyin English | |||||
Radical No. | Radical | English | Pinyin | Stroke Count | Variant (Traditional) |
一 | one | yī | 1 | ||
丨 | line | shù | 1 | ||
丶 | dot | diǎn | 1 | ||
丿 | slash | piě | 1 | 乀 乁 | |
乙 | second | yǐ | 1 | 乚 乛 | |
亅 | hook | gōu | 1 | ||
二 | two | èr | 2 | ||
亠 | lid | tóu | 2 | ||
人 | person | rén | 2 | 亻 | |
儿 | legs | ér | 2 | ||
入 | enter | rù | 2 | ||
八 | eight | bā | 2 | 丷 | |
冂 | down box | jiǒng | 2 | ||
冖 | cover | mì | 2 | ||
冫 | ice | bīng | 2 | ||
几 | table | jī, jǐ | 2 | ||
凵 | open box | qǔ | 2 | ||
刀 | knife | dāo | 2 | 刂 | |
力 | power | lì | 2 | ||
勹 | wrap | bāo | 2 | ||
匕 | ladle | bǐ | 2 | ||
匚 | right open box | fāng | 2 | ||
匸 | hiding enclosure | xǐ | 2 | ||
十 | ten | shí | 2 | ||
卜 | divination | bǔ | 2 | ||
卩 | seal | jié | 2 | ||
厂 | cliff | hàn | 2 | ||
厶 | private | sī | 2 | ||
又 | again | yòu | 2 | ||
口 | mouth | kǒu | 3 | ||
囗 | enclosure | wéi | 3 | ||
土 | earth | tǔ | 3 | ||
士 | scholar | shì | 3 | ||
夂 | go | zhī | 3 | ||
夊 | go slowly | suī | 3 | ||
夕 | night | xī | 3 | ||
大 | big | dà | 3 | ||
女 | woman | nǚ | 3 | ||
子 | child | zǐ | 3 | ||
宀 | roof | gài | 3 | ||
寸 | inch | cùn | 3 | ||
小 | small | xiǎo | 3 | ||
尢 | lame | yóu | 3 | 尣 | |
尸 | corpse | shī | 3 | ||
屮 | sprout | chè | 3 | ||
山 | mountain | shān | 3 | ||
川 | river | chuān | 3 | 巛 巜 | |
工 | work | gōng | 3 | ||
己 | oneself | jǐ | 3 | ||
巾 | towel | jīn | 3 | ||
干 | dry | gān | 3 | ||
幺 | thread | yāo | 3 | ||
广 | shelter | guǎng | 3 | ||
廴 | stride | yǐn | 3 | ||
廾 | hands joined | gǒng | 3 | ||
弋 | shoot with a bow | yì | 3 | ||
弓 | bow | gōng | 3 | ||
彐 | snout | jì | 3 | 彑 | |
彡 | hair | shān | 3 | ||
彳 | step | chì | 3 | ||
心 | heart | xīn | 4 | 忄 | |
戈 | spear | gē | 4 | ||
户 | door | hù | 4 | ||
手 | hand | shǒu | 4 | 扌 | |
支 | branch | zhī | 4 | ||
攴 | rap | pū | 4 | 攵 | |
文 | script | wén | 4 | ||
斗 | dipper | dǒu | 4 | ||
斤 | axe | jīn | 4 | ||
方 | square | fāng | 4 | ||
无 | not | wú | 4 | ||
日 | sun | rì | 4 | ||
曰 | say | yuē | 4 | ||
月 | moon | yuè | 4 | ||
木 | tree | mù | 4 | ||
欠 | lack | qiàn | 4 | ||
止 | stop | zhǐ | 4 | ||
歹 | death | dǎi | 4 | ||
殳 | weapon | shū | 4 | ||
母 | mother | mǔ | 4 | 毋 | |
比 | compare | bǐ | 4 | ||
毛 | fur | máo | 4 | ||
氏 | clan | shì | 4 | ||
气 | steam | qì | 4 | ||
水 | water | shuǐ | 4 | 氵 | |
火 | fire | huǒ | 4 | 灬 | |
爪 | claw | zhǎo | 4 | 爫 | |
父 | father | fù | 4 | ||
爻 | lines on a trigram | yáo | 4 | ||
爿 | half of a tree trunk | qiáng | 4 | ||
片 | slice | piàn | 4 | ||
牙 | tooth | yá | 4 | ||
牛 | cow | niú | 4 | 牜 | |
犭 | dog | quǎn | 3 | 犬 | |
玄 | profound | xuán | 5 | ||
玉 | jade | yù | 5 | 王 | |
瓜 | melon | guā | 5 | ||
瓦 | tile | wǎ | 5 | ||
甘 | sweet | gān | 5 | ||
生 | life | shēng | 5 | ||
用 | use | yòng | 5 | ||
田 | field | tián | 5 | ||
疋 | cloth | pǐ | 5 | ||
疒 | ill | bìng | 5 | ||
癶 | foot steps | bō | 5 | ||
白 | white | bái | 5 | ||
皮 | skin | pí | 5 | ||
皿 | dish | mǐn | 5 | ||
目 | eye | mù | 5 | ||
矛 | spear | máo | 5 | ||
矢 | arrow | shǐ | 5 | ||
石 | stone | shí | 5 | ||
示 | spirit | shì | 5 | 礻 | |
禸 | track | róu | 4 | ||
禾 | grain | hé | 5 | ||
穴 | cave | xuè | 5 | ||
立 | stand | lì | 5 | ||
竹 | bamboo | zhú | 6 | ||
米 | rice | mǐ | 6 | ||
纟 | silk | sī | 3 | (糸) | |
缶 | jar | fǒu | 6 | ||
网 | net | wǎng | 6 | 罒 | |
羊 | sheep | yáng | 6 | ||
羽 | feather | yǔ | 6 | ||
老 | old | lǎo | 6 | ||
而 | and | ér | 6 | ||
耒 | plow | lěi | 6 | ||
耳 | ear | ěr | 6 | ||
聿 | brush | yù | 6 | ||
肉 | meat | ròu | 6 | ||
臣 | minister | chén | 6 | ||
自 | oneself | zì | 6 | ||
至 | arrive | zhì | 6 | ||
臼 | mortar | jiù | 6 | ||
舌 | tongue | shé | 6 | ||
舛 | contrary | chuǎn | 6 | ||
舟 | boat | zhōu | 6 | ||
艮 | mountain | gèn | 6 | ||
色 | color | sè | 6 | ||
艹 | grass | cǎo | 3 | ||
虍 | tiger | hǔ | 6 | ||
虫 | insect | chóng | 6 | ||
血 | blood | xuě | 6 | ||
行 | walk | xíng | 6 | ||
衣 | clothes | yī | 6 | 衤 | |
西 | west | xī | 6 | 覀 | |
见 | see | jiàn | 4 | (見) | |
角 | horn | jiǎo | 7 | ||
讠 | speech | yán | 2 | (言) | |
谷 | valley | gǔ | 7 | ||
豆 | bean | dòu | 7 | ||
豕 | pig | shǐ | 7 | ||
豸 | badger | zhì | 7 | ||
贝 | shell | bèi | 4 | (貝) | |
赤 | red | chì | 7 | ||
走 | walk | zǒu | 7 | ||
足 | foot | zú | 7 | ||
身 | body | shēn | 7 | ||
车 | cart | chē | 4 | (車) | |
辛 | bitter | xīn | 7 | ||
辰 | morning | chén | 7 | ||
辶 | walk | chuò | 3 | ||
邑 | city | yì | 7 | 阝 | |
酉 | wine | yǒu | 7 | ||
釆 | distinguish | biàn | 7 | ||
里 | village | lǐ | 7 | ||
钅 | metal | jīn | 5 | 金 | |
长 | long | cháng | 4 | (長) | |
门 | gate | mén | 3 | (門) | |
阜 | mound | fù | 8 | 阝 | |
隶 | slave | lì | 8 | ||
隹 | short-tailed bird | zhuī | 8 | ||
雨 | rain | yǔ | 8 | ||
青 | blue | qīng | 8 | ||
非 | wrong | fēi | 8 | ||
面 | face | miàn | 9 | ||
革 | leather | gé | 9 | ||
韦 | soft leather | wěi | 4 | (韋) | |
韭 | leek | jiǔ | 9 | ||
音 | sound | yīn | 9 | ||
页 | page | yè | 6 | (頁) | |
风 | wind | fēng | 4 | (風) | |
飞 | fly | fēi | 4 | (飛) | |
饣 | eat | shí | 3 | 飠 食 | |
首 | head | shǒu | 9 | ||
香 | fragrant | xiāng | 9 | ||
马 | horse | mǎ | 3 | (馬) | |
骨 | bone | gǔ | 9 | ||
高 | high | gāo | 10 | ||
髟 | long hair | biāo | 10 | ||
鬥 | fight | dòu | 10 | ||
鬯 | sacrificial wine | chàng | 10 | ||
鬲 | cauldron | lì | 10 | ||
鬼 | ghost | guǐ | 9 | ||
鱼 | fish | yú | 8 | (魚) | |
鸟 | bird | niǎo | 5 | (鳥) | |
卤 | salty | lǔ | 7 | ||
鹿 | deer | lù | 11 | ||
麦 | wheat | mài | 7 | (麥) | |
麻 | hemp | má | 11 | ||
黄 | yellow | huáng | 11 | ||
黍 | millet | shǔ | 12 | ||
黑 | black | hēi | 12 | ||
黹 | embroidery | zhǐ | 12 | ||
黾 | frog | mǐn | 8 | (黽) | |
鼎 | tripod | dǐng | 12 | ||
鼓 | drum | gǔ | 13 | ||
鼠 | rat | shǔ | 13 | ||
鼻 | nose | bí | 14 | ||
齐 | even | qí | 6 | (齊) | |
齿 | tooth | chǐ | 8 | (齒) | |
龙 | dragon | lóng | 5 | (龍) | |
龟 | turtle | guī | 7 | (龜) | |
龠 | flute | yuè | 17 |
Chinese Characters and RadicalsEach Chinese character on the right-hand column of the following table contains or is classified by a radical. Occasionally a radical may simply be a character. The radicals displayed in the table can be seen in radical indexes of most Chinese dictionaries for simplified characters. However, some characters are catalogued under different radicals. For instance, a same character can be found under a particular radical in one dictionary but under another in a different dictionary. The radical usually, but not invariably, gives a name or clue as to the meaning of the character, as can be seen from the second column of the following table. For more information on Chinese characters please visit Wikipedia Click on the links below to find the answers.
How is a Chinese character formed?
Chinese characters are formed in the following 7 different ways.
Some characters have components which hint of the pronunciation of the characters. For instance, as it demonstrates above in 4: 华, one of the components of the character has a similar pronunciation as the character华.
How do I learn and remember Chinese characters?
One way of remembering characters is to make up “stories” which would make “sense” to yourself. For instance, in 休 xiū to rest, the radical on the left, 亻means “a person”, and the part on the right, 木, means wood or tree, so the made up “story” could be “a person is leaning against a tree to have a rest.” Let’s look at another example; 队 duì a queue. The radical on the left, 阝means plenty and the part on the right, 人 means people, so one could say: “Plenty of people make a queue.” Sometimes the radical doesn’t have enough to allow a story to be made up then one should use one’s imagination. For instance, in 办 bàn to deal with the middle part of the character 力 means strength, and the two dots, 、 look like sweat, so one could say: “Nowadays one needs strength and sweat to deal with business.” Using the following radical table while you are learning the Chinese characters in the Characters section on the CD will help you to become familiar with counting strokes and remembering the characters.
What are the advantages of leaning the radicals?
There are at least three advantages for learning the radicals.
Where will I find the radical of a character?
Radicals of characters are placed either on left, right, top, base or outside of a character as indicated in Column 3 of the following table.
Do I have to learn all the radicals?
There is no need to learn all the radicals first before learning characters. The best way to use the following table is to look up the meanings of radicals when you are watching the animation of the “Radical” column below and the Characters section on the CD. This might help you to make up stories to remember the characters. Highlight the radicals which you have learned with a highlight pen and add the relevant characters into the examples boxes below.
The radical table
**** List of Chinese RadicalsChinese characters can be decomposed into components called radicals or bushou. The most commonly accepted table of radicals for traditional Chinese characters consists of 214 entries. These 214 radicals were popularized back in the reign of Qing emperor Kangxi, who commissioned what is now known as the Kangxi Zidian, a character dictionary listing over 47,000 entries. Tables with fewer or greater number of radicals have been devised for simplified characters. Being able to recognize the common radicals helps in the learning and recognition of new characters. Some but not all radical are complete characters in their own right. Some radicals have more than one form. Finally, simplified characters have resulted in additional variants. In the following table, the English names were taken from the Unihan database, a database of international characters. The stroke count refer to the main form of the radical only. Do some radicals look very similar? We have compiled another table of similar looking radicals. Click on any column title to sort
*Stroke Count
See also‘;
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