Your Complete Chinese Radical Chart

Mastering Chinese may sound impossible, but it can be done if you have the right attitude toward learning and the most efficient methods. As you may know, studying root words in English is a proven effective way to build vocabulary as it gives you a foundation of many words’ meanings.

This article will introduce to you a similar method to apply in learning Chinese. That is learning radicals. So what are radicals, and how can they help you study Chinese? 

Read on to find out! 

What are Chinese radicals? 

Chinese radicals are the base, graphical components that form Chinese vocabulary. Basically, Chinese radicals and strokes form Chinese components; components form characters; characters make up Chinese words. To put it simply, radicals are the fundamental building blocks of the Chinese written language. 

Learn more about Chinese radicals: Top 8 Most Basic Chinese Radicals For Beginners.

How can radicals help you study Chinese? 

In general, knowing radicals helps you grasp the Chinese language more quickly.

You can break down complicated words into smaller, more basic units. Doing so helps you truly understand the meaning and logic behind the words, which will encode vocabulary into your brain for a longer time.

In addition, radicals help you link related words into groups, creating a systematic and efficient learning method. Sometimes, you can just guess a word’s meaning based on its radical.   

Chinese radicals are also used to index characters. The Chinese language doesn’t have an alphabet, so dictionaries use radicals to categorize characters in order. So, in order to look up a word in a dictionary, you need to know radicals!

The complete radical chart 

The exact number of radicals varies. However, the standard & most commonly used radical chart is the Kangxi dictionary published in 1716. This radical chart includes 214 radicals, their Pinyin, and the meaning for each radical. The radicals may have multiple forms, depending on their location within the character. 

Let’s take a look at this radical chart!

No.	Radical	Pinyin	Meaning
1	一	yī	one
2	丨	gǔn	line
3	丶	zhǔ	stroke
4	丿 乀 乁	fú	oblique
5	乙 乚 乛	yǐ	sickle
6	亅	jué	hook
7	二	èr	two
8	亠	tóu	shelter, head
9	人 亻	rén	man
10	儿	er	child
11	入	rù	to enter
12	八 丷	bā	eight, separate
13	冂	jiōng	scope
14	冖	mì	to cover
15	冫	bīng	ice
16	几	jǐ	table
17	凵	qiǎn	container
18	刂 刁 刀 ク	dāo	knife
19	力	lì	force
20	勹	bāo	to wrap
21	匕	bǐ	spoon, man overthrown
22	匚	fāng	open box
23	匸	xì	to hide
24	十	shí	ten
25	卜	bo	divination
26	卩	jié	seal
27	厂	chǎng	production facility
28	厶	sī	secret
29	又 ヌ	yòu	still, hand
30	口	kǒu	mouth
31	囗	wéi	enclosure
32	土	tǔ	earth
33	士	shì	scholar
34	夂	zhǐ	to go
35	夊	suī	go slowly
36	夕	xī	evening
37	大	dà	big
38	女	nǚ	woman
39	子	zi	child
40	宀	mián	roof
41	寸	cùn	thumb
42	小 ⺌ ⺍	xiǎo	small
43	尢	yóu	weak
44	尸	shī	dead body
45	屮	chè	germ
46	山	shān	mountain
47	川 巛	chuān	river
48	工	gōng	work
49	己	jǐ	personal
50	巾	jīn	turban
51	干	gàn	dry
52	幺	yāo	tiny
53	广	guǎng	shelter
54	廴	yǐn	great, stride
55	廾	gǒng	two, hands
56	弋	yì	shoot, arrow
57	弓	gōng	bow
58	彐 彑	jì	snout
59	彡	shān	beard, brush
60	彳	chì	walk around
61	心 忄	xīn	heart
62	戈	gē	halberd
63	戶 户	hù	gate
64	手 扌 才	shǒu	hand
65	支	zhī	branch
66	攴 攵	pū	to bump, hand
67	文	wén	writing
68	斗	dòu	measurer
69	斤	jīn	ax, 500 grams
70	方	fāng	square, direction
71	无	wú	without
72	日	rì	sun
73	曰	yuē	to say
74	月	yuè	moon
75	木 朩	mù	tree
76	欠	qiàn	tired
77	止	zhǐ	to stop
78	歹	dǎi	death
79	殳	shū	weapon
80	母 毋 毌	mǔ	mother
81	比	bǐ	to confront
82	毛	máo	fur
83	氏	shì	clan
84	气	qì	air
85	水 氵 氺	shuǐ	water
86	火 灬	huǒ	fire
87	爪 爫	zhǎo	claw
88	父	fù	father
89	爻	yáo	double
90	爿	pán	splitted, wood
91	片	piàn	slice
92	牙	yá	tooth, ivory
93	牛 牜 ⺧	niú	beef
94	犬 犭	quǎn	dog
95	玄	xuán	deep
96	王 玉	yù	jade
97	瓜	guā	melon
98	瓦	wǎ	tile
99	甘	gān	sweet
100	生	shēng	be born
101	用	yòng	to use
102	田	tián	field
103	疋 ⺪	pǐ	roll, piece of cloth
104	疒	nè	disease
105	癶	bō	to go up
106	白	bái	white
107	皮	pí	skin
108	皿	mǐn	container
109	目	mù	eye
110	矛	máo	spear
111	矢	shǐ	arrow
112	石	shí	stone
113	示 礻	shì	to venerate, to show
114	禸	róu	get away
115	禾	hé	grain
116	穴	xué	cave, swing door
117	立	lì	standing up
118	竹 ⺮ ケ	shì	bamboo
119	米	mǐ	rice
120	糸 纟	mì	silk
121	缶	fǒu	jar
122	网 罒 罓 罓	wǎng	net
123	羊 ⺶ ⺷	yáng	sheep
124	羽	yǔ	feather
125	老 耂	lǎo	old
126	而	ér	and
127	耒	lěi	plow
128	耳	ěr	ear
129	聿	yù	brush
130	肉 月	ròu	meat
131	臣	chén	minister
132	自	zì	personal
133	至	zhì	to reach
134	臼	jiù	mortar
135	舌	shé	tongue
136	舛	chuǎn	to oppose
137	舟	zhōu	boat
138	艮	gěn	decided
139	色	sè	color
140	艹	cao	vegetable
141	虍	hū	tiger
142	虫	chóng	insect
143	血	xuè	blood
144	行	xíng	circulate
145	衣 衤	yī	cloth
146	西 覀	xi	lid
147	见	jiàn	to see
148	角	jiǎo	horn
149	言 讠	yán	speech
150	谷	gǔ	valley
151	豆	dòu	pea
152	豕	chù	pig
153	豸	zhì	feline, cat family
154	贝	bèi	shell, money
155	赤	chì	red
156	走	zǒu	to walk
157	足	zú	foot
158	身	shēn	body
159	车	chē	car
160	辛	xīn	bitter
161	辰	chén	morning
162	辶	chuò	brisk walking
163	阝 (邑)	fù	city
164	酉	yǒu	alcohol
165	釆	biàn	to distinguish
166	里	lǐ	neighborhood
167	金 钅	jīn	gold, metal
168	长	zhǎng	long
169	门	mén	gate
170	阝(阜)	fù	mound
171	隶	lì	servant
172	隹	zhuī	short-tailed bird
173	雨	yǔ	rain
174	青	qīng	blue/green
175	非	fēi	false
176	面	miàn	face
177	革	gé	leather
178	韦	wéi	tanned leather
179	韭	jiǔ	leek
180	音	yīn	sound
181	页 頁	yè	head, leaf
182	风	fēng	wind
183	飞	fēi	to fly
184	食 饣	shí	to eat
185	首	shǒu	head
186	香	xiāng	perfume
187	马	mǎ	horse
188	骨	gǔ	bone
189	高	gāo	high
190	髟	biāo	hair
191	鬥	dòu	fight
192	鬯	chàng	sacrificial wine
193	鬲	gé	cauldron
194	鬼	guǐ	ghost
195	鱼	yú	fish
196	鸟	niǎo	bird
197	鹵	lǔ	salt
198	鹿	lù	deer
199	麦	mài	corn
200	麻	má	hemp
201	黃	huáng	yellow
202	黍	shǔ	millet
203	黑	hēi	black
204	黹	zhǐ	embroidery
205	黾	miǎn	frog
206	鼎	dǐng	tripod
207	鼓	gǔ	drum
208	鼠	shǔ	rat
209	鼻	bí	nose
210	齐	qí	regular
211	齿	chǐ	tooth, engrenage
212	龙	lóng	dragon
213	龟	guī	tortoise
214	龠	yuè	flute

Keeping this radical chart in hand can help you memorize Chinese characters better. You can print out the radical chart, keep one copy in your bag and review it whenever you have a minute to spare. Making sentences or flashcards with Chinese radicals is also an effective way to know how to use each word on particular occasions.

Learn radicals with Pandanese! 

Pandanese is an online learning platform with hand-crafted lessons to teach you Chinese radicals, characters, and vocabulary.

Using mnemonics & Spaced Repetition System (SRS) learning techniques, Pandanese guarantees to help you conquer 6000+ characters in one year.