Chinese characters indexed by radical

Here we give some commonly used Chinese characters. If you click through to an individual character you will see an audio link so you can hear its pronunciation (in the Beijing dialect), the entry also list common usage, proverbs and names as well as the constituent parts that make up the character. For some of the ancient ‘pictogram’ characters we describe the likely origin of the character or radical. To help with pronunciation we list common characters with the same tone (homophones) as well as the ones with different tones.

The traditional way to find the meaning of a character in a Chinese-English dictionary is to look it up by order of pinyin sound - as in our character index. If you only have the written character and do not know how it is pronounced you have to use another method. First you analyze the character and work out its component parts. One of these parts - usually the left part is the radical. You then need to know how many strokes are used to write the radical part. Having looked up the radical in the index by stroke count you look through to find the character. If this does not work it could be that the radical is not to the left but may be at the top or more rarely bottom or right. Another problem may be working out the number of strokes, for example it may come as a surprise that a box is made of three strokes, a newcomer may have suspected four or maybe one but three seems arbitrary until you start studying Chinese calligraphy and then it becomes clear that three strokes making writing the box easier.

Here is a list of common radicals used to index Chinese characters. We have only included the most common ones within the full set of 214. The radical usually indicates either meaning or pronunciation. Dictionaries use their own scheme for radicals, we are following the one used in Wiktionary , these include some radicals only used in traditional characters but it is convenient to use an index that covers both the simplified and traditional forms. Click on the radical for more information including many of the common characters that use it.


One stroke

1 One; 2 Line; 3 Dot; 4 丿 'slash'; 5 Hidden; 6 'vertical hook';

Two strokes

7 Two; 8 Head; 9 Person; 9 Person (radical); 10 Legs; 11 To enter; 12 Eight; 13 Covering box; 14 Cover; 15 Ice; 16 How many; 17 Open box; 18 Knife (radical); 19 Strength; 20 Wrap; 21 Spoon; 22 Basket; 23 Box; bag; 24 Ten; 25 Divination; 26 Seal (of document); 27 Cliff; 28 Private; 29 Also; 149 Words; 163 Place; 170 'left ear';

Three strokes

30 Mouth; 31 Proud; 32 Earth; 34 Walk slowly; 36 Sunset; 37 Big; 38 Female; 39 Child; 40 Roof; 41 Unit of length; 42 Small; 44 Corpse; 46 Mountain; 47 River; 48 Work; 49 Snake; 50 Scarf; 51 Do; 53 广 Vast; 54 'long stride'; 55 Two hands; 56 Catch; 57 Bow; 58 Snout; 59 Bristle; 60 Step; 61 Heart; 85 Water; 94 Dog; 120 Silk; 140 Grass; 162 Walking; 169 Entrance; 184 Food; 187 Horse;

Four strokes

61 Heart; 62 Spear; 63 Door; 66 Rap; 67 Script; 68 Unit of weight; 69 Axe; 70 Square; 71 Not to have; 72 Sun; 73 To speak; 74 Moon; 75 Wood; 76 Yawn; 77 To stop; 78 Bad; 79 Spear; 82 Hair; 83 Clan name; 84 Gas; 85 Water; 86 Fire (as radical); 86 Fire; 87 Claw; 88 Father; 91 Thin piece; 93 Ox; 96 Jade; 113 Spirit; 125 Old; 130 Meat; 154 Shell; 159 Vehicle; 168 Long;

Five strokes

98 Tile; 99 Pleasant; 100 Produce; 101 To use; 102 Field; 104 Sick; 106 Bright; 107 Leather; 108 Dish; 109 Eye; 110 Spear; 111 Arrow; 112 Rock; 113 To show; 115 Grain; 116 Cave; 117 Stand; 122 Net; 145 Clothes; 167 Metal; 196 Bird;

Six strokes

118 Bamboo; 119 Rice; 123 Sheep; 126 As well as; 128 Ear; 132 From; 133 To arrive; 135 Tongue; 137 Boat; 138 Stubborn; 141 Tiger; 142 Insect; 144 Permitted; 146 西 West; 181 Page;

Seven strokes

150 Valley; 152 Pig; 155 Red; 156 Walk; 157 Foot; 158 Body; 160 Hard; 164 Wine vessel; 166 Inside;

Eight strokes

172 Short-tailed bird; 173 Rain; 174 Green; 175 To not be; 195 Fish;

Nine strokes

138 Eat; 177 Animal hide; 180 Sound; 194 Ghost;

Ten strokes

189 Tall;

See also