里
contributes the sense of settled land — a village or measured stretch of countryside — though in most characters it simply supplies the sound lǐ · Kangxi radical 166
contributes the sense of settled land — a village or measured stretch of countryside — though in most characters it simply supplies the sound lǐ
The graph is a stack of two familiar pieces: 田, a field drawn as a square divided by paths, sitting on 土, a mound of earth. Together they picture cultivated ground with a settlement on it, hence a village and later a fixed unit of road distance. You can still see both halves cleanly in the modern form. In 野 (open country) it keeps that land sense, but in 理, 鲤, 锂, 埋 and 狸 it is only a sound hint; and in 童, 重 and 量 the 里 shape is a later flattening of quite different original graphs, not the village at all.
里 at a glance
- Meaning
- contributes the sense of settled land — a village or measured stretch of countryside — though in most characters it simply supplies the sound lǐ
- Strokes
- 7
- Characters
- 22
- Role
- Usually contributes sound
- Kangxi radical
- 166
Characters with 里 (16 of 22)
HSK 3 · 1
HSK 4 · 1
HSK 5 · 2
HSK 6 · 1
Frequently asked questions
What does the component 里 mean?
里 means "contributes the sense of settled land — a village or measured stretch of countryside — though in most characters it simply supplies the sound lǐ". In the characters that contain it, it usually contributes sound.
How many Chinese characters contain 里?
22 characters in this dictionary contain 里, including ones at HSK 3, HSK 4, HSK 5, HSK 6.
Is 里 a radical?
Yes — 里 is Kangxi radical 166, one of the 214 traditional indexing radicals used to organise Chinese dictionaries.
How many strokes does 里 have?
里 is written in 7 strokes.