When learning the Chinese language, it is crucial to familiarize oneself with the basics of the characters. A fundamental aspect of these characters is the radical, or the building block of the character. In the Chinese language, there are 252 radicals that are used to form the majority of the characters in the language. Here is a comprehensive list of the 252 radicals in Chinese, which are ordered according to the Kangxi Dictionary.
The first radical is “one.” This is a simple horizontal line and is found in characters such as 一 (yī) which means one or single.
The second radical is “line,” which is a vertical line and is found in characters such as 丨 (gǔn) which means line or stroke.
The third radical is “dot,” which is a small dot and is found in characters such as 丶 (zhǔ) which means dot or point.
The fourth radical is “slash,” which is a diagonal stroke and is found in characters such as 丿 (piě) which means slash or slant.
The fifth radical is “second,” which is a diagonal stroke and is found in characters such as 乙 (yǐ) which means second or subaltern.
The sixth radical is “hook,” which is a horizontal hook and is found in characters such as 亅 (jǔ) which means hook or down turning.
The seventh radical is “two,” which is a horizontal line and is found in characters such as 二 (èr) which means two or second.
The eighth radical is “lid,” which is a horizontal box and is found in characters such as 亠 (tóu) which means a lid or a cover.
The ninth radical is “person,” which is a standing person and is found in characters such as 人 (rén) which means person or human.
The tenth radical is “child,” which is a kneeling child and is found in characters such as 儿 (ér) which means child or son.
There are many other radicals in the Chinese language that are used to create an almost infinite number of characters. By familiarizing oneself with these 252 radicals, Chinese language learners can more easily pick up new words and understand their meanings.
