Learn Chinese List of Chinese Radicals

Chinese 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.

No. Radi­cal Vari­ants Sim­pli­fied Radi­cal Pin­yin Eng­lish Name Stroke Count 1 一 yi1 one 1 2 丨 gun3 line 1 3 丶 zhu3 dot 1 4 丿 乀 (fu2), 乁 (yi2) pie3 slash 1 5 乙 乚 (yin3), 乛 yi4 second 1 6 亅 jue2 hook 1 7 二 er4 two 2 8 亠 tou2 lid 2 9 人 亻 ren2 man 2 10 儿 er2 legs 2 11 入 ru4 enter 2 12 八 丷 ba1 eight 2 13 冂 jiong3 down box 2 14 冖 mi4 over 2 15 冫 bing1 ice 2 16 几 ji1 table 2 17 凵 qian3 open box 2 18 刀 刂 dao1 knife 2 19 力 li4 power 2 20 勹 bao1 wrap 2 21 匕 bi3 spoon 2 22 匚 fang1 right open box 2 23 匸 xi3 hiding enclo­sure 2 24 十 shi2 ten 2 25 卜 bu3 mysti­cism 2 26 卩 jie2 seal 2 27 厂 chang3 cliff 2 28 厶 si1 private 2 29 又 you4 again 2 30 口 kou3 mouth 3 31 囗 wei2 enclo­sure 3 32 土 tu3 earth 3 33 士 shi4 scholar 3 34 夂 zhi3 (top) go 3 35 夊 sui1 (bot­tom) go slowly 3 36 夕 xi1 evening 3 37 大 da4 big 3 38 女 nü3 woman 3 39 子 zi3 child 3 40 宀 mian2 roof 3 41 寸 cun4 inch 3 42 小 xiao3 small 3 43 尢 尣 wang1 lame 3 44 尸 shi1 corpse 3 45 屮 che4 sprout 3 46 山 shan1 moun­tain 3 47 川 巛 , 巜 (gui4) chuan1 river 3 48 工 gong1 work 3 49 己 ji3 oneself 3 50 巾 jin1 turban 3 51 干 gan1 dry 3 52 幺 yao1 short thread 3 53 广 guan3 dotted cliff 3 54 廴 yin3 long stride 3 55 廾 gong3 two hands 3 56 弋 yi4 shoot 3 57 弓 gong1 bow 3 58 彐 彑 ji4 snout 3 59 彡 shan1 bristle 3 60 彳 chi4 step 3 61 心 忄 xin1 heart 4 62 戈 ge1 halberd 4 63 戶 hu4 door 4 64 手 扌 shou3 hand 4 65 支 zhi1 branch 4 66 攴 攵 pu1 rap 4 67 文 wen2 script 4 68 斗 dou3 dipper 4 69 斤 jin1 axe 4 70 方 fang1 square 4 71 无 wu2 not 4 72 日 ri4 sun 4 73 曰 yue1 say 4 74 月 yue4 moon 4 75 木 mu4 tree 4 76 欠 qian4 lack 4 77 止 zhi3 stop 4 78 歹 dai3 death 4 79 殳 shu1 weapon 4 80 毋 wu2 do not 4 81 比 bi3 compare 4 82 毛 mao2 fur 4 83 氏 shi4 clan 4 84 气 qi4 steam 4 85 水 氵 shui3 water 4 86 火 灬 huo3 fire 4 87 爪 爫 zhao3 claw 4 88 父 fu4 father 4 89 爻 yao2 double x 4 90 爿 丬 pan2, qiang2 half tree trunk 4 91 片 pian4 slice 4 92 牙 ya2 fang 4 93 牛 牜 niu2 cow 4 94 犬 犭 quan3 dog 4 95 玄 xuan2 pro­found 5 96 玉 王 yu4 jade 5 97 瓜 gua1 melon 5 98 瓦 wa3 tile 5 99 甘 gan1 sweet 5 100 生 sheng1 life 5 101 用 yong4 use 5 102 田 tian2 field 5 103 疋 pi3 bolt of cloth 5 104 疒 chuang2 sick­ness 5 105 癶 bo4 dotted tent 5 106 白 bai2 white 5 107 皮 pi2 skin 5 108 皿 min3 dish 5 109 目 mu4 eye 5 110 矛 mao2 spear 5 111 矢 shi3 arrow 5 112 石 shi2 stone 5 113 示 礻 shi4 spirit 5 114 禸 rou3 track 5 115 禾 he2 grain 5 116 穴 xue4 cave 5 117 立 li4 stand 5 118 竹 ⺮ zhu2 bamboo 6 119 米 mi3 rice 6 120 糸 纟 mi4 silk 6 121 缶 fou3 jar 6 122 网 罒 wang3 net 6 123 羊 yang2 sheep 6 124 羽 yu3 feather 6 125 老 lao3 old 6 126 而 er2 and 6 127 耒 lei3 plow 6 128 耳 er3 ear 6 129 聿 yu4 brush 6 130 肉 rou4 meat 6 131 臣 chen2 minis­ter 6 132 自 zi4 self 6 133 至 zhi4 arrive 6 134 臼 jiu4 mortar 6 135 舌 she2 tongue 6 136 舛 chuan3 oppose 6 137 舟 zhou1 boat 6 138 艮 gen4 stop­ping 6 139 色 se4 color 6 140 艸 艹 cao3 grass 6 141 虍 hu1 tiger 6 142 虫 chong2 insect 6 143 血 xue3 blood 6 144 行 xing2 walk enclo­sure 6 145 衣 衤 yi1 clothes 6 146 襾 覀 ya4 west 6 147 見 见 jian4 see 7 148 角 jue2 horn 7 149 言 讠 yan2 speech 7 150 谷 gu3 valley 7 151 豆 dou4 bean 7 152 豕 shi3 pig 7 153 豸 zhi4 badger 7 154 貝 贝 bei4 shell 7 155 赤 chi4 red 7 156 走 zou3 run 7 157 足 ⻊ zu2 foot 7 158 身 shen1 body 7 159 車 车 che1 cart 7 160 辛 xin1 bitter 7 161 辰 chen2 morning 7 162 辵 辶 chuo4 walk 7 163 邑 阝 (right) yi4 city 7 164 酉 you3 wine 7 165 釆 bian4 distin­guish 7 166 里 li3 village 7 167 金 jin1 gold 8 168 長 长 chang2 long 8 169 門 门 men2 gate 8 170 阜 阝 (left) fu4 mound 8 171 隶 dai4 slave 8 172 隹 zhui1 short tailed bird 8 173 雨 yu3 rain 8 174 青 qing1 blue 8 175 非 fei1 wrong 8 176 面 mian4 face 9 177 革 ge2 leather 9 178 韋 韦 wei2 tanned leather 9 179 韭 jiu3 leek 9 180 音 yin1 sound 9 181 頁 页 ye4 leaf 9 182 風 风 feng1 wind 9 183 飛 飞 fei1 fly 9 184 食 飠 饣 shi2 eat 9 185 首 shou3 head 9 186 香 xiang1 fragrant 9 187 馬 马 ma3 horse 10 188 骨 gu3 bone 10 189 高 gao1 tall 10 190 髟 biao1 hair 10 191 鬥 dou4 fight 10 192 鬯 chang4 sacri­ficial wine 10 193 鬲 li4 caul­dron 10 194 鬼 gui3 ghost 10 195 魚 鱼 yu2 fish 11 196 鳥 鸟 niao3 bird 11 197 鹵 lu3 salt 11 198 鹿 lu4 deer 11 199 麥 麦 mai4 wheat 11 200 麻 ma2 hemp 11 201 黃 huang2 yellow 12 202 黍 shu3 millet 12 203 黑 hei1 black 12 204 黹 zhi3 embroi­dery 12 205 黽 黾 min3 frog 13 206 鼎 ding3 tripod 13 207 鼓 gu3 drum 13 208 鼠 鼡 shu3 rat 13 209 鼻 bi2 nose 14 210 齊 齐 qi2 even 14 211 齒 齿 chi3 tooth 15 212 龍 龙 long2 dragon 16 213 龜 龟 gui1 turtle 16 214 龠 yue4 flute 17

See also