Chinese Radicals: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning the Building Blocks of Chinese Characters

When you dive into the Chinese language, you can’t ignore radicals. These are the key parts of Chinese characters. They help you guess the meaning and sometimes how to pronounce the characters. Understanding these radicals helps you learn Chinese faster. It makes reading and learning new words easier.

Let’s talk about how these radicals have changed over time and how they are grouped. By looking into this, we find patterns. These patterns are really helpful whether you’re just starting or you’ve been studying Chinese for a long time. Next, we’ll look at how knowing these radicals can open up new ways of understanding and communicating in Chinese.

What are Chinese Radicals?

Definition of radicals and their role in Chinese characters

Radicals are key parts of Chinese characters. They often give clues about the character’s meaning or sound. These elements help us understand how Chinese writing works.

Usually, a radical can tell you about the theme of the character or sometimes hint at how it sounds. For instance, the radical 女 (nǚ) usually has something to do with women, and the radical 言 (yán) is often about speaking or words. Some characters mix different radicals to create more complex ideas. But remember, radicals don’t always make things clear. Their hints can be confusing or not quite right when figuring out what a full character means.

Importance of radicals for language learners

Understanding radicals is key when you’re learning Chinese. Radicals are the building blocks of Chinese characters and help you figure out what words mean and how to say them. This is super important for all learners. By knowing radicals, you get a better handle on how characters combine and relate to each other, which boosts your vocabulary and reading skills.

For beginners, think of radicals like a shortcut. They help you break down tricky characters into pieces that are easier to understand. If you’re more advanced, recognizing patterns in these radicals can help you make sense of new characters you haven’t seen before.

A complete list of all 214 Chinese radicals and their meaning

Chinese radicals are the essential building blocks of Chinese characters. These components carry meaning and serve as keys to understanding the language’s structure. Knowing all 214 radicals will deepen your understanding and make it easier to learn new words. Explore this complete list to enhance your grasp of Chinese script.

Radical number	Radical	Pinyin	Meaning	Examples
1	一	yī	One	丁万上下
2	丨	gǔn	Line	个中丰串临
3	丶	zhǔ	Dot	丸义丹为主
4	丿乀乁	piě	Slash	乂乃久乇乎
5	乙乚	yǐ	Second	九乞乩乱
6	亅	jué	Hook	了争事
7	二	èr	Two	亍于云五亚
8	亠	tóu	Lid	亡亢交产京
9	人亻	rén	Person	你他仕仙例
10	儿	rén	Legs	兀元兄先克
11	入	rù	Enter	內全氽
12	八丷	bā	Eight	兮公兰关兴
13	冂	jiōng	Down box	内冋再冏最
14	冖	mì	Cover	写军农
15	冫	bīng	Ice	冰况冼凊
16	几	jǐ	Table	凡凤
17	凵	qiǎn	Open box	凶凸凹出击
18	刂刁刀	dāo	Knife	刅分切划刚
19	力	lì	Power	劝办加务动
20	勹	bāo	Wrap	勺勾匀包
21	匕	bǐ	Ladle/Dagger	化北匙
22	匚	fāng	Right open box	匛匤匡匢匜
23	匸	xì	Hiding enclosure	匹区医匼
24	十	shí	Ten	千升午半
25	卜	bǔ	Divination	卟占卡卢卤
26	卩	jié	Seal/Joint	卫卬卯印却
27	厂	hǎn	Cliff/House	厄厅历厉
28	厶	mǒu/sī	Private	去县参
29	又	yòu	Again	叉友双发受
30	口	kǒu	Mouth	吃叹品吵叫
31	囗	wéi	Enclosure	围团国囚困
32	土	tǔ	Earth	在地城地型
33	士	shì	Scholar	壮仕壬声志
34	夂	zhǐ	Go	处复备冬
35	夊	suī	Go slowly	夌复変
36	夕	xī	Night	外多夜夠
37	大	dà	Big	天太夫央头
38	女	nǚ	Woman	妈好始姓安
39	子	zǐ	Child	孔字季学孩
40	宀	mián	Roof	宁它安定容
41	寸	cùn	Inch	对寺寻寿导
42	小⺌⺍	xiǎo	Small	少尔尚尝
43	尢	wāng	Lame	尤尧就尴尬
44	尸	shī	Corpse	尼尽局居层
45	屮	chè	Sprout	屯屰
46	山	shān	Mountain	岀峰岁岛岳
47	川巛	chuān	River	州巡巢
48	工	gōng	Work	左巧巩巫
49	己	jǐ	Oneself	纪记忌改
50	巾	jīn	Towel	巿币市师
51	干	gān/gàn	Dry/Do	平年并幸
52	幺	yāo	Youngest	幻幼幽
53	广	guǎng	Shelter	座庄床店
54	廴	yǐn	Stride	延廷建
55	廾	gǒng	Hands joined	开异弃弄
56	弋	yì	Shoot with a bow	式弑
57	弓	gōng	Bow	弟引张弘弯
58	彐彑	jì	Snout	归当录彖
59	彡	shān	Hair	形彦彩影
60	彳	chì	Step	行徐律很往
61	心忄	xīn	Heart	必忆忘忙快
62	戈	gē	Spear	我成戒战或
63	戶户	hù	Door	房所扁扇扉
64	扌	shǒu	Hand	扔扬扛扱抱
65	支	zhī	Branch	攰攱攲
66	攴攵	pū	Rap/Beat	收改政故敌
67	文	wén	Script	齐斌斑斓斋
68	斗	dǒu	Vessel	料斛斟斜
69	斤	jīn	Axe	斧断斯新斩
70	方	fāng	Square	施旁旋旅旗
71	无/旡	wú/jì	Not/Choke on something eaten	既
72	日	rì	Sun	时早明是晩
73	曰	yuē	Say	曲更曾
74	月	yuè	Moon	服朋青朝明
75	木朩	mù	Tree	森林相根本
76	欠	qiàn	Lack	次欢欣歆欲
77	止	zhǐ	Stop	正此步武歧
78	歹	dǎi	Death	死歾殃殉殆
79	殳	shū	Weapon	段殷殴
80	母	mǔ	Mother	每毒
81	比	bǐ	Compare	毕庇毙
82	毛	máo	Fur	毫毡笔毯毫
83	氏	shì	Clan	民氓
84	气	qì	Steam	氲氧氢
85	水氵氺	shuǐ	Water	海河湖江洗
86	火灬	huǒ	Fire	灯炎热点然
87	爪爫	zhǎo/zhuǎ	Claw	爬爱
88	父	fù	Father	爷爸
89	爻	yáo	Lines on a trigram	爼爽
90	爿	pán	Half of a tree trunk	牀
91	片	qiáng	Slice	版牌
92	牙	yá	Tooth
93	牛牜⺧	niú	Cow	牟牤牧物牲
94	犬犭	quǎn	Dog	犮犯犷狂狗
95	玄	xuán	Profound	率玆
96	王玉	wáng/yù	King/Jade	珍现琴莹玺
97	瓜	guā	Melon	瓢瓣
98	瓦	wǎ	Tile	瓶瓷瓮
99	甘	gān	Sweet	甚甜某
100	生	shēng	Life	甠甡甥
101	用	yòng	Use	甬甭甫
102	田	tián	Field	男甸画畅界
103	疋𤴔	pǐ	Foot	胥疍疏疎
104	疒	nè	Sick	病疔疤疫疯
105	癶	bō	Unbalanced footsteps	癷癸登
106	白	bái	White	百的皇皁皓
107	皮	pí	Skin	皱皲
108	皿	mǐn	Dish	盂益盆监盈
109	目	mù	Eye	盯相盲看眠
110	矛	máo	Spear	矜䂊
111	矢	shǐ	Arrow	矣知矩矫矬
112	石	shí	Stone	码破硌硏硬
113	示礻	shì	Spirit	礼社视禁祭
114	禸	róu	Rub	禹禺离
115	禾	hé	Grain	秀秋种秒租
116	穴	xué	Cave	穷究空穿突
117	立	lì	Stand	站竞章竖端
118	竹⺮ケ	zhú	Bamboo	笑笛第竿等
119	米	mǐ	Rice	粮类粉粤籽
120	糸纟	sī	Silk	红纪组系紧
121	缶	fǒu	Jar	缺缸罂
122	网罒罓	wǎng	Net	罗罚罢罪
123	羊⺶⺷	yáng	Sheep	美着羞群羚
124	羽	yǔ	Feather	翠翁耀翔
125	老耂	lǎo	Old	者耄者考
126	而	ér	And	耍耐
127	耒	lěi	Plaw	耔耗耕耘
128	耳	ěr	Ear	聊聆聒联耿
129	聿	yù	Brush	肃肆肄肇
130	肉月	ròu	Meat	肖肘肚腐
131	臣	chén	Minister	卧藏
132	自	zì	Oneself	臬臭
133	至	zhì	Arrive	致臻
134	臼	jiù	Mortar	臾舀舂
135	舌	shé	Tongue	舍舐舔
136	舛	chuǎn	Contrary	舜
137	舟	zhōu	Boat	航船般舱舫
138	艮	gèn	Mountain	良艰根跟
139	色	sè	Color	艳
140	艹	cǎo	Grass	花菜茶茬草
141	虍	hū	Stripes on a tiger	虏虎虐虔虑
142	虫	chóng	Insect	蛇蚊蛋蚤蚀
143	血	xuè	Blood	恤衅
144	行	xíng	Walk	衍衔街
145	衣衤	yī	Clothes	表袋袓衷袄
146	覀	yà	Cover	要覆覃
147	见	jiàn	See	观规觉览
148	角	jiǎo	Horn	解触
149	讠	yán	Speech	计讨记讲识
150	谷	gǔ	Valley	豁
151	豆	dòu	Bean	豌豉
152	豕	shǐ	Pig	豚豪象
153	豸	zhì	Legless insect	豹豺貌
154	贝	bèi	Shell	贞负贡责财
155	赤	chì	Red	赦赫
156	走	zǒu	Walk	赶起超越
157	足	zú	Foot	跃跑路跳
158	身	shēn	Body	躬躺躲
159	车	chē	Cart	轧轨软轮轻
160	辛	xīn	Bitter	辜辣辞辟
161	辰	chén	Day time	晨辱振震
162	辶	chuò	Walk	边达过运远
163	邑阝	yì	City	那邦邮郊邕
164	酉	yǒu	Wine vessel	酒酱酷
165	釆	biàn	Distinguish	采釉释
166	里	lǐ	Village/Unit of distance	重野量
167	金钅	jīn	Metal	银钉钟钥鉴
168	长	cháng	Long	张帐账
169	门	mén	Gate	间闪闯闭闹
170	阜⻏	fù	Mound	陡陆防际队
171	隶	lì	Slave
172	隹	zhuī	Short-tailed bird	难雀集雇
173	雨	yǔ	Rain	雪零雷雾
174	青	qīng	Blue/Green	靓靖静
175	非	fēi	Wrong	靠靡
176	面	miàn	Face	靥腼
177	革	gé	Leather	靴鞋
178	韦	wěi	Soft leather	韧韩韫
179	韭	jiǔ	Leek	瀣
180	音	yīn	Sound	章竟歆韵
181	页	yè	Page	顶项须顺
182	风	fēng	Wind	飒飓飘
183	飞	fēi	Fly	–
184	食饣	shí	Eat	饥饮饱饰餐
185	首	shǒu	Head	馗
186	香	xiāng	Fragrant	馥馨
187	马	mǎ	Horse	驰驹骂骇驳
188	骨	gǔ	Bone	骸骷骰
189	高	gāo	High	髚
190	髟	biāo	Long hair	髦鬃鬓
191	门/鬥	mén/dòu	Fight	鬧鬦
192	鬯	chàng	Sacrificial wine	–
193	鬲	lì	Cauldron	鬳鬴鬵鬷
194	鬼	guǐ	Ghost	魂魄魅
195	鱼	yú	Fish	鲜鲈鲑
196	鸟	niǎo	Bird	鸡鸦鸭
197	卤	lǔ	Brine
198	鹿	lù	Deer	麒麓麋
199	麦	mài	Wheat	麸
200	麻	má	Hemp	麾磨魔
201	黄	huáng	Yellow	横磺簧
202	黍	shǔ	Millet	黎黏
203	黑	hēi	Black	墨黔默黛
204	黹	zhǐ	Embroidery
205	黾	měng	Frog	鼋
206	鼎	dǐng	Tripod
207	鼓	gǔ	Drum
208	鼠	shǔ	Rat
209	鼻	bí	Nose	鼾齁
210	齐	qí	Neat	挤剂济
211	齿	chǐ	Tooth	龄龅
212	龙	lóng	Dragon	龚笼珑
213	龟	guī	Turtle
214	龠	yuè	Flute

History of Chinese Radicals

Chinese radicals started over 3,000 years ago with the earliest Chinese writing on oracle bones during the Shang Dynasty. These little parts of characters have changed a lot since then. They moved from those early inscriptions to more uniform styles in Bronze and Seal scripts. Each radical usually stands for a common meaning or sound, which helps people figure out how to read and pronounce more complicated characters.

By the time of the Han Dynasty, the use of radicals was fine-tuned. This improvement helped a lot in making dictionaries and educational books. These books sorted characters by their radicals and how many strokes they had, making it easier for people to learn and look up Chinese characters. This method has really stuck around and still helps in teaching and understanding Chinese writing today.

Categories of Chinese Radicals

Semantic radicals

Semantic radicals are parts of Chinese characters that give us clues about what the characters mean. These radicals group characters into themes like nature, body parts, animals, and different abstract ideas.

For example, the radical 水 (shuǐ) is all about water. Knowing these radicals can help you figure out the meanings of more complicated characters and remember them better. Take the character 河 (hé), which means river. It has the water radical, showing it’s related to water. This kind of approach makes learning new words easier and helps you build your vocabulary more effectively.

Phonetic radicals

After talking about semantic radicals that help us get the theme of a character, let’s dive into phonetic radicals. These are super helpful because they give us hints on how to pronounce the characters they’re in. While semantic radicals set the scene, phonetic radicals focus on sound, showing us how to say the character. This is handy because Chinese has a lot of words that sound the same but mean different things.

Take the radical 言 (yán) for example — it pops up in words about talking and usually means the pronunciation will be similar. Knowing this can make learning new characters and saying them right a lot easier.

Variants and simplifications

When we dive into Chinese radicals, we uncover something pretty interesting about the language: it has changed over time. You’ll see different versions of these radicals in both traditional and simplified Chinese scripts. This shows us how the language has shifted historically and how people have tried to make it easier to learn and use.

In Mainland China, for instance, they’ve simplified many complex characters to make them easier to write and remember. These changes are really about cutting down the number of strokes in each character. This makes writing faster and learning less of a headache. If you’re getting into Chinese writing, it’s really important to get a handle on these changes. It’ll help you understand how the language has evolved and why it looks the way it does today.

Common Chinese Radicals and Their Meanings

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
人	rén	person, human
口	kǒu	mouth, opening
手	shǒu	hand
心	xīn	heart, mind
日	rì	sun, day
月	yuè	moon, month
水	shuǐ	water
火	huǒ	fire
木	mù	wood, tree
土	tǔ	earth, soil
山	shān	mountain
石	shí	stone
金	jīn	metal, gold
雨	yǔ	rain
风	fēng	wind
田	tián	field
目	mù	eye
耳	ěr	ear
足	zú	foot
走	zǒu	walk, move
言	yán	speech, word
食	shí	eat, food
馬 / 马	mǎ	horse
虫	chóng	insect
魚	yú	fish
鳥	niǎo	bird
牛	niú	cow, ox
羊	yáng	sheep
犬	quǎn	dog
虎	hǔ	tiger
女	nǚ	female, woman
子	zǐ	child, son
老	lǎo	old, elder
小	xiǎo	small
大	dà	big
長	cháng	long
白	bái	white
黑	hēi	black
青	qīng	green, blue
红	hóng	red
衣	yī	clothing
車 / 车	chē	vehicle
門 / 门	mén	door
力	lì	strength, power
刀	dāo	knife
弓	gōng	bow (archery)
巾	jīn	cloth, towel
彳	chì	step
竹	zhú	bamboo

Understanding common radicals is key to reading and writing Chinese. Radicals are like building blocks for words. For example, the radical 水 (shuǐ) is linked to anything water-related, while 火 (huǒ) connects to fire or heat. The heart or mind is symbolized by 心 (xīn), which you’ll see in words about feelings or thinking. The radical 言 (yán) points to speech or words, helping with language and communication.

Knowing these radicals makes it easier to remember words and guess new ones. This not only helps with memorization but also boosts your understanding and fluency in Chinese.

Conclusion

Learning the basic radicals is key to getting good at Chinese. These radicals are the building blocks of the language, helping you understand how characters are put together and what they mean. This guide has shown you why radicals matter, what they do, and how to learn them effectively. By folding radicals into your overall language studies, you’ll find it easier to read, write, and grasp Chinese.

Sure, becoming fluent is a tough road, but getting to know the main radicals lays down a solid base. To move forward, focus on the radicals you’ll use most, practice them regularly, and keep expanding your knowledge of how they fit into the bigger picture of the language.