玉
contributes the sense of jade and · Kangxi radical 96
contributes the sense of jade and, by extension, things precious, valuable, or beautiful
The old graph showed several flat discs of jade strung on a cord: the vertical stroke is the string, the horizontal strokes the pieces threaded onto it. The modern 玉 keeps three crossbars on one upright, with a dot added to tell it apart from 王 'king'. On the left side of a character the dot is dropped and it looks exactly like 王, as in 珏 'paired jades' and 璧 'jade disc'; squeezed under or inside another part it stays whole, as in 宝 'treasure', 玺 'imperial seal', and 国, where the jade sits enclosed by borders.
玉 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of jade and
- Strokes
- 5
- Characters
- 13
- Role
- Contributes meaning
- Kangxi radical
- 96
Characters with 玉 (10 of 13)
HSK 1 · 1
HSK 4 · 1
HSK 5 · 1
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 玉 mean?
玉 means "contributes the sense of jade and". In the characters that contain it, it contributes meaning.
How many Chinese characters contain 玉?
13 characters in this dictionary contain 玉, including ones at HSK 1, HSK 4, HSK 5.
Is 玉 a radical?
Yes — 玉 is Kangxi radical 96, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 玉 have?
玉 is written in 5 strokes.