The 214 Kangxi Radicals
Every Chinese character belongs to one of 214 radical groups — the 部首 (bùshǒu) that dictionaries have used for two thousand years. Learn them and characters stop being random: 氵 means water, 扌 means hand, 木 means wood.
Print this page as a wall chart and keep the 214 radicals within sight. Click any radical for its characters.
1 stroke6 radicals
2 strokes23 radicals
3 strokes35 radicals
4 strokes41 radicals
5 strokes24 radicals
6 strokes30 radicals
7 strokes19 radicals
8 strokes11 radicals
9 strokes9 radicals
10 strokes5 radicals
11 strokes3 radicals
12 strokes4 radicals
13 strokes2 radicals
14 strokes1 radicals
17 strokes1 radicals
About the radicals
The radical system (部首 bùshǒu) groups characters by a shared component. It was first described in the Shuowen Jiezi (2nd century CE) and fixed at 214 groups by the Kangxi Dictionary in 1716 — the system dictionaries still use today.
Radicals are sorted by stroke count: 6 have one stroke, 23 have two, and so on up to 龠 with 17. Click any radical for its meaning, pronunciation and every character in the group; characters are sorted by how common they are, and each links to a full dictionary page with stroke order and audio.
You do not need all 214 right away. The most frequent radicals — 氵 (water), 扌 (hand), 心 (heart), 言 (speech), 木 (wood) — appear in a huge share of everyday characters, so learning the top 50 pays off immediately.