Chinese Radicals Index (Bu Shou)

Browse all Chinese radicals organized by stroke count. Search by meaning, pinyin, or character.

149
Radicals
13
Stroke Groups

1Stroke

2 radicals
一

One

yi
11 chars
乙

Second

yi
6 chars

2Strokes

17 radicals
二

Two

er
2 chars
人

Person

ren
2 chars
亻

Person

var. 人
ren· Single person
35 chars
儿

Son

er
2 chars
八

Eight

ba
3 chars
冂

Enclosure

jiong
2 chars
几

Table

ji
1 chars
刀

Knife

dao
3 chars
力

Power

li
4 chars
勹

Wrap

bao
2 chars
十

Ten

shi
6 chars
卜

Divination

bu
2 chars
厂

Cliff

chang
5 chars
厶

Private

si
1 chars
又

Again

you
2 chars
讠

Speech

var. 言
yan· Speech radical
30 chars
阝

Mound

var. 阜
fu· Mound radical
10 chars

3Strokes

27 radicals
口

Mouth

kou
41 chars
囗

Enclosure

wei
3 chars
土

Earth

tu
10 chars
士

Scholar

shi
2 chars
夕

Evening

xi
2 chars
大

Big

da
4 chars
女

Woman

nü
27 chars
子

Child

zi
6 chars
寸

Inch

cun
4 chars
小

Small

xiao
3 chars
尢

Lame

wang
2 chars
尸

Corpse

shi
8 chars
山

Mountain

shan
7 chars
川

Radical 川

chuan
1 chars
工

Work

gong
1 chars
巾

Towel

jin
9 chars
幺

Short thread

yao
1 chars
广

House on cliff

guang
10 chars
廾

Two hands

gong
1 chars
弓

Bow

gong
3 chars
忄

Heart

var. 心
xin· Vertical heart
38 chars
扌

Hand

var. 手
shou· Hand radical
67 chars
氵

Water

var. 水
shui· Three dots water
50 chars
艹

Grass

var. 艸
ao· Grass radical
32 chars
门

Radical 门

men
3 chars
飞

Radical 飞

fei
1 chars
马

Radical 马

ma
5 chars

4Strokes

34 radicals
厄

Radical 厄

e
1 chars
心

Heart

xin
18 chars
戈

Spear

ge
3 chars
手

Hand

shou
3 chars
支

Branch

zhi
1 chars
攴

Knock

pu
1 chars
攵

Radical 攵

pu
8 chars
斗

Dipper

dou
2 chars
斤

Axe

jin
1 chars
方

Square

fang
2 chars
日

Sun

ri
26 chars
曰

Say

yue
2 chars
月

Moon

yue
32 chars
木

Tree

mu
41 chars
欠

Lack

qian
2 chars
止

Stop

zhi
5 chars
歹

Death

dai
3 chars
殳

Weapon

shu
1 chars
毛

Fur

mao
1 chars
氏

Clan

shi
1 chars
气

Steam

qi
1 chars
火

Fire

huo
12 chars
灬

Fire

var. 火
huo· Four dots fire
16 chars
父

Father

fu
1 chars
牛

Cow

niu
2 chars
犬

Dog

quan
1 chars
王

Radical 王

wang
8 chars
瓦

Tile

wa
1 chars
礻

Spirit

var. 示
shi· Spirit radical
2 chars
见

Radical 见

jian
4 chars
贝

Radical 贝

bei
16 chars
车

Radical 车

che
5 chars
韦

Radical 韦

wei
1 chars
风

Radical 风

feng
1 chars

5Strokes

15 radicals
母

Radical 母

mu
1 chars
生

Life

sheng
1 chars
田

Field

tian
6 chars
白

White

bai
1 chars
皿

Dish

min
4 chars
目

Eye

mu
10 chars
矢

Arrow

shi
2 chars
石

Stone

shi
8 chars
示

Spirit

shi
1 chars
禾

Grain

he
8 chars
穴

Cave

xue
4 chars
立

Stand

li
5 chars
衤

Clothes

var. 衣
yi· Clothes radical
10 chars
钅

Metal

var. 金
jin· Metal radical
15 chars
鸟

Radical 鸟

niao
3 chars

6Strokes

23 radicals
竹

Bamboo

zhu
13 chars
米

Rice

mi
8 chars
糸

Silk

mi
5 chars
糹

Silk

var. 糸
si· Silk radical
5 chars
缶

Jar

fou
1 chars
羊

Sheep

yang
2 chars
羽

Feather

yu
3 chars
而

And

er
1 chars
耒

Plow

lei
1 chars
耳

Ear

er
6 chars
聿

Brush

yu
1 chars
肉

Meat

rou
1 chars
自

Self

zi
2 chars
至

Arrive

zhi
1 chars
舌

Tongue

she
1 chars
舟

Boat

zhou
3 chars
艮

Stopping

gen
1 chars
色

Color

se
1 chars
虍

Tiger

hu
3 chars
虫

Insect

chong
10 chars
行

Walk

xing
3 chars
衣

Clothes

yi
4 chars
页

Radical 页

ye
6 chars

7Strokes

11 radicals
角

Horn

jiao
1 chars
豆

Bean

dou
1 chars
豕

Pig

shi
1 chars
豸

Badger

zhi
1 chars
走

Run

zou
3 chars
足

Foot

zu
7 chars
身

Body

shen
1 chars
辛

Bitter

xin
1 chars
酉

Wine

you
8 chars
里

Village

li
1 chars
麦

Radical 麦

mai
1 chars

8Strokes

7 radicals
采

Radical 采

cai
1 chars
金

Metal

jin
2 chars
隹

Short-tailed bird

zhui
2 chars
雨

Rain

yu
4 chars
青

Radical 青

qing
1 chars
非

Wrong

fei
1 chars
鱼

Radical 鱼

yu
2 chars

9Strokes

6 radicals
面

Face

mian
1 chars
革

Leather

ge
4 chars
飠

Eat

var. 食
shi· Eat radical
首

Head

shou
1 chars
骨

Bone

gu
2 chars
鬼

Ghost

gui
2 chars

10Strokes

1 radical
髟

Hair

biao
1 chars

11Strokes

3 radicals
鹿

Deer

lu
1 chars
麻

Hemp

ma
1 chars
黄

Radical 黄

huang
1 chars

12Strokes

2 radicals
黍

Millet

shu
1 chars
黑

Black

hei
2 chars

13Strokes

1 radical
鼠

Rat

shu
1 chars

What are Chinese Radicals?

Chinese radicals (部首, bù shǒu) are the building blocks of Chinese characters. Each radical is a component that often provides a clue to the character's meaning or pronunciation. There are 214 traditional Kangxi radicals, organized by stroke count from 1 to 17 strokes.

Radicals serve as the primary indexing system in Chinese dictionaries. By identifying a character's radical and counting the remaining strokes, you can quickly look up any character—even if you don't know its pronunciation. This makes radicals essential for both learners and native speakers.

Why Learn Chinese Radicals?

📖Dictionary Lookup

Find any character in a dictionary by radical and stroke count, even without knowing pronunciation.

💡Meaning Clues

Many radicals hint at a character's meaning. For example, 氵(water) appears in characters related to water or liquids.

🧠Memory Aid

Understanding radicals helps you remember characters by breaking them into meaningful components.

✍️Writing System

Radicals follow consistent stroke order rules, making it easier to write characters correctly.

How to Use This Radical Index

  1. 1Search – Type a radical character, meaning, or pinyin in the search box above
  2. 2Browse – Scroll through radicals organized by stroke count (1-17 strokes)
  3. 3Click – Select any radical to see all characters that contain it
  4. 4Learn – View stroke order, meanings, and HSK levels for each character

Other Ways to Find Characters

Know the pronunciation? Search by pinyin for faster results:

拼Browse by Pinyin (拼音)

Pinyin is the romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. Perfect when you know how a character sounds but want to see all characters with that pronunciation.