CHARACTERS
汉字
Overview
Simplified vs Traditional
Strokes
Radicals Aren't So Radical
Component Patterns
Characters

RADICALS

OVERVIEW

Radicals are a special type component that were originally used to categorize characters in paper (manual) dictionaries.  Every character has a radical (sometimes two radicals) that indicate where in a dictionary a character can be found.  The Chinese word for radical, 部首, literally means section header. It’s the equivalent of an English dictionary that is sectioned off by the 26 letters of the alphabet.

The process of using a character’s radical to search for a character in a paper dictionary is rather cumbersome (involving multiple lookup tables to get to the correct page in the dictionary).

Modern digital dictionaries (either on mobile devices or web-based) obviate the need to use radicals to lookup a character (or word) – most dictionaries will accept drawn characters (best on smart phones), pinyin, characters entered via input method editors (IME’s) and English equivalents).

So, the original use of radicals is obsolete. However, radicals are the most frequently used components – so, understanding radicals as a subset of components is helpful in terms of learning pattern recognition.

hanzi-02-char--bu-shou-0615-x-0555-trans-zh

RADICALS LIST

#RADICALPINYINDEFINITIONSTROKES
001one01
002gǔnline01
003zhǔdot01
004丿piěslash01
005second01
006juéhook01
007èrtwo02
008tóulid02
009rénman02
010érson, legs02
011enter02
012eight02
013jiōng(down box)02
014cover02
015bīngice02
016table02
017kǎn(open box)02
018dāoknife02
019power02
020bāowrap02
021spoon02
022fāng(right open box)02
023xǐ/xìhiding enclosure02
024shíten02
025divination02
026jiéseal (device)02
027hǎncliff02
028private02
029yòuagain02
030kǒumouth03
031wéienclosure03
032earth03
033shìscholar03
034zhǐgo03
035suīgo slowly03
036evening03
037big03
038woman03
039child03
040miánroof03
041cùninch03
042xiǎosmall03
043wānglame03
044shīcorpse03
045chèsprout03
046shānmountain03
047chuānriver03
048gōngwork03
049oneself03
050jīnturban03
051gāndry03
052yāoshort thread03
053广guǎng(dotted cliff)03
054yǐnlong stride03
055gǒng(two hands)03
056shoot03
057gōngbow03
058snout03
059shānbristle03
060chìstep03
061xīnheart04
062halberd04
063door04
063door04
064shǒuhand04
065zhībranch04
066rap, tap04
067wénscript04
068dǒudipper04
069jīnaxe04
070fāngsquare04
071not04
072sun04
073yuēsay04
074yuèmoon04
075tree04
076qiànlack04
077zhǐstop04
078dǎideath04
079shūweapon04
080do not04
081compare04
082máofur04
083shìclan04
084steam04
085shuǐwater04
086huǒfire04
087zhǎoclaw04
088father04
089yáo(double x)04
090qiáng(half tree trunk)04
091piànslice04
092fang04
093niúcow04
094quǎndog04
095xuánprofound05
096jade05
097guāmelon05
098tile05
099gānsweet05
100shēnglife05
101yòng (shuǎi)use05
102tiánfield05
103bolt of cloth05
104sickness05
105dotted tent, legs05
106báiwhite05
107skin05
108mǐndish05
109eye05
110máospear05
111shǐarrow05
112shístone05
113shìspirit05
114róutrack05
115grain05
116xuécave05
117stand05
118zhúbamboo06
119rice06
120silk06
120silk06
121fǒujar06
122wǎngnet06
123yángsheep06
124feather06
125lǎoold06
126érand06
127lěiplow06
128ěrear06
129brush06
130ròumeat06
131chénminister06
132self06
133zhìarrive06
134jiùmortar06
135shétongue06
136chuǎnoppose06
137zhōuboat06
138gènstopping06
139color06
140cǎograss06
141tiger06
142chónginsect06
143xuèblood06
144xíngwalk enclosure06
145衣 (⻂)clothes06
146cover06
147jiànsee07
148jiǎohorn07
149言 (訁)yánspeech07
149yánspeech07
150valley07
151dòubean07
152shǐpig07
153zhìbadger07
154bèishell07
155chìred07
156zǒurun07
157foot07
158shēnbody07
159chēcart07
160xīnbitter07
161chénmorning07
162chuò / zouzhiwalk07
163city07
164yǒuwine07
165biàndistinguish07
166village07
167金 (釒)jīngold08
167jīngold08
168chánglong08
168chánglong08
169méngate08
170mound08
171slave08
172zhuīshort-tailed bird08
173rain08
174qīngblue08
175fēiwrong08
176miànface09
177leather09
178wéitanned leather09
179jiǔleek09
180yīnsound09
181leaf09
182fēngwind09
183fēifly09
184食 (飠)shíeat09
184shíeat09
185shǒuhead09
186xiāngfragrant09
187horse10
188bone10
189gāotall10
190biāohair10
191dòufight10
192chàngsacrificial wine10
193cauldron10
194guǐghost10
195fish11
196niǎobird11
197salt11
198鹿deer11
199màiwheat11
200hemp11
201huángyellow12
202shǔmillet12
203hēiblack12
204zhǐembroidery12
205mǐnfrog13
206dǐngtripod13
207drum13
208shǔrat13
209nose14
210even14
211齿chǐtooth15
212lóngdragon16
213guīturtle16
214yuèflute17

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