A handy list of all 214 Chinese radicals, and what they mean

Are the Chinese radicals the missing piece to your language-learning puzzle? Let’s investigate!

Every Chinese learner goes through different stages of understanding the Chinese characters. Perhaps you’re a heritage learner, having some prior exposure to the language, or maybe you’re learning Chinese from scratch.

Whatever the case may be, you’ll likely consult a number of sources as you make sense of these fascinating logograms: your teacher, some textbooks, online resources, and maybe even friends and family. One suggestion that rings true across the board is to learn the Chinese radicals.

So, are the radicals really the key to learning Chinese? Probably not, as they alone won’t make you proficient — but they will give you a serious boost no matter where you are on your learning journey. If you’re just getting started, knowing the radicals can help you better categorize the characters and make sense of this unique writing structure. And if you’re further along in your journey, learning them can help you get a hint of the meaning of obscure or less frequent characters.

So, how can you learn radicals? We’ll show you right below!

What are Chinese radicals?

Chinese radicals are components of characters. They often provide clues on the meaning or pronunciation (or both!) of a particular character, so studying them well can definitely pay off.

For example, the Chinese radical 女 (nǚ) means woman. If you spot that radical in another character, it generally means that the character is related to women in some way. For example, the Chinese word for mom is 妈妈 (māma). Spot something familiar? That’s right! The 女 (nǚ) radical is there to give you a hint about the meaning of those characters you may have forgotten about!

However, this doesn’t always work. Sometimes, characters will include radicals that have absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of the word. In fact, radicals may sometimes represent the pronunciation of the character rather than allude to its meaning. For example, the radical 乙 (yǐ) means second, and the word 艺 (yì) means skill. “Second” has nothing to do with “skill,” but the radical gives you a hint on how it’s pronounced!

With that said, radicals aren’t always reliable. There are many instances where a radical won’t help you gain any insights into the meaning or the pronunciation, so you should proceed with caution. Radicals can be friends, but they can’t be trusted 100% of the time!

A complete list of all 214 Chinese radicals and their meaning

Without further ado, here is a complete list of all the radicals! Some of them have multiple forms, which we’ve conveniently included in the radical column. We’ve also included some example characters for each radical to help you see what the radical looks like in practice.

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

FAQs

After reviewing all 214 Chinese characters, you surely have some questions! Here are some of the most commonly asked questions.

1. What are the most common Chinese radicals?

As you now know, the radicals can help you figure out the meaning or pronunciation of a character, which is invaluable for anyone studying Chinese. But which ones should you prioritize?

Here are the 10 most important ones to give your Chinese a serious boost.

Radical	Pinyin	Meaning	Examples
女	nǚ	Woman	妈 好 始 姓 安
水 氵 氺	shuǐ	Water	海 河 湖 江 洗
人 亻	rén	Person	你 他 仕 仙 例
刂 刁 刀	dāo	Knife	刅 分 切 划 刚
心 忄	xīn	Heart	必 忆 忘 忙 快
月	yuè	Moon	服 朋 青 朝 明
彳	chì	Step	行 徐 律 很 往
子	zǐ	Child	孔 字 季 学 孩
宀	mián	Roof	宁 它 安 定 容
讠	yán	Speech	说 话 语 讲 试

2. How many Chinese radicals are there?

There are 214 in total. Keep in mind that some of them have several forms, and some traditional characters have been altered with the introduction of simplified characters.

Though that sounds like a lot, rest assured that many of them aren’t used at all in modern Chinese — and many more are not used in daily conversations.

3. Should I learn all the radicals before I start learning characters?

No! You don't need to learn all 214 radicals before you start learning characters. In fact, you most definitely shouldn’t — many of them are so sparsely used that you won’t run into them until you’re far more advanced in your studies. Instead, incorporate some radicals into your Chinese study routine so that they can help complement your learning.

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at our list of the 10 most common ones above. Knowing just those 10 will make a difference in your Chinese learning, but definitely don’t let the radicals get in the way of learning simple phrases like how to say hello in Chinese.

4. Can radicals be used on their own?

Certainly! Many radicals can also be used as characters on their own. This is something to keep in mind — although all of them have their own meaning, not all of them can be used on their own as stand-alone characters.

Here are some examples of radicals that can be used as characters on their own:

Radical	Pinyin	Meaning
入	rù	Enter
力	lì	Power
女	nǚ	Woman
又	yòu	Again
大	dà	Big
土	tǔ	Earth
工	gōng	Work
干	gān/gàn	Dry/Do
日	rì	Sun
石	shí	Stone

Now you know what’s so radical about Chinese characters!

214 radicals later, and now you’re well on your way to becoming a prolific Chinese speaker! As a key component to most Chinese characters, spending some time reviewing the radicals is essential for every learner. Whether you use this to your advantage or not is up to you!

Our recommendation? Make learning work for you. Instead of thinking of them as another thing to learn before you can really start speaking Chinese, think of them as helpful aids in your studies. With enough practice, you’ll soon start recognizing radicals in your day-to-day studies!

Make sure to check out our Mandarin blog if you enjoyed this guide. We publish handy grammar and vocabulary guides to help you level up your Chinese studies. And best of all? They’re all free! Save our blog to your bookmarks and let us help you grow your Mandarin skills.