The Ice Radical 冫: Overview, Mnemonics, and Vocabulary

Seen this character before 冫? But wait, doesn’t 冰 also mean ice in Chinese?

If you are a little confused, no worries. One is the Chinese radical and the other is the hanzi. Read on to learn about the Chinese symbols for ice, mnemonics, and a list of help vocabulary for you to learn.

What is the Chinese ice radical?

In Chinese, the radical 冫bīng refers to “ice.” It’s often used in characters with meanings related to ice, physical cold, or a cold attitude. The ice radical 冫bīng is composed of 2 strokes and listed as radical 15 according to the Kangxi radical chart (a system of radicals of Chinese characters). You can also find this radical in 115 Chinese characters (out of 49,030) ​​in the Kangxi Dictionary. 

Note that the ice radical never stands alone as an independent character. It always has to combine with other components to form a meaningful character. In modern Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, the radical ice 冫bīng in some characters is written as two bottom dots ⺀(as seen in 冬, 寒) rather than 冫 which is a a dot and a throw stroke. 

This radical 冫bīng was originally a pictogram and was written as 仌 (depicting a crack in some ice). The Chinese ice radical has been simplified and standardized to make writing easier. Let’s have a look at the transformation of this radical.

What is the stroke order of the Chinese ice radical?

The ice radical has two strokes, written in the following order:

Chinese ice radical stroke animation

How can you memorize the Chinese ice radical?

Though the radical ice radical is a no-brainer to memorize, there’s a learning technique that lets learners memorize this radical with fun rather than learn it by heart— the mnemonics!

Try this mnemonic to help you learn this ice symbol:  It looks like water being flicked off when you flip your hair back after going for a swim. And water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius.

Chinese ice radical

At Pandanese, we employ mnemonics flashcards to help Chinese learners like you get the most out of your learning. Your Chinese learning journey couldn’t get any easier! Or could it? Have a look at how mnemonics works in this example.

Chinese radical ice words list to learn:

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth learning Chinese radicals?

Yes. Understanding Chinese radicals helps you identify the hidden meaning of complex hanzi and improve your Chinese character recognition. Complex characters or vocabulary words can be broken down into their components for you to understand its meaning. 

What is Chinese Radical 15?

Radical 15 is the Chinese ice radical, 冫 which means ice.

To conclude

冫 will help you recognize characters that are related to ice and cold. With that out of the way, isn't learning Chinese a breeze?