策 (cè): policy, plan, scheme, bamboo slip for writing (old), to whip (a horse), to encourage

策 (cè) is a Chinese character meaning “policy.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 朿 (phonetic). It ranks #714 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 策 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. policy
  2. plan
  3. scheme
  4. bamboo slip for writing (old)
  5. to whip (a horse)
  6. to encourage

Etymology & Origin

策

pictophoneticbamboo

Decomposition: ⿱⺮朿 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Practice writing 策 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 策

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
策略nouncè lüèstrategy6
策划verbcè huàto plot6
政策nounzhèng cèpolicy6
决策verb/nounjué cèstrategic decision6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
束手无策phraseshù shǒu wú cèlit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom)
对策nounduì cècountermeasure for dealing with a situation
策划人cè huà rénsponsor
上策shàng cèbest course of action
计策nounjì cèstratagem
鞭策verbbiān cèto spur on
出谋划策phrasechū móu huà cèto put forward plans and ideas (also derogatory)
失策verbshī cèto blunder
策反verbcè fǎnto instigate (rebellion etc)
良策nounliáng cègood plan
决策者nounjué cè zhěpolicymaker
群策群力phraseqún cè qún lì(idiom) to act in concert
策应verbcè yìngto support by coordinated action
策动verbcè dòngto conspire
策士nouncè shìstrategist
62
Total compounds
32
As first character
55
As last character
13
As middle character

策 appears in 62 compound words: 32 as the first character, 55 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 策 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

政zhèng
0.634180,437 co-occurrences
略lüè
0.62140,479 co-occurrences
划huá
0.47413,810 co-occurrences
鸽gē
0.44315 co-occurrences
决jué
0.42011,465 co-occurrences
央yāng
0.39538 co-occurrences
障zhàng
0.3953,154 co-occurrences
针zhēn
0.3501,280 co-occurrences
鞭biān
0.346322 co-occurrences
措cuò
0.3441,264 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

乘坚策肥chéng jiān cè féiHSK 6+

to live in luxury; lit. to ride a solid carriage pulled by fat horses

phrase
出谋划策chūmóuhuàcèHSK 7+

to put forward plans and ideas; to give advice

phrase
群策群力qúncèqúnlìHSK 6+

to pool the wisdom and efforts of everyone; to work with collective wisdom and concerted efforts

phrase
束手无策shùshǒuwúcèHSK 6+

to be at a loss what to do; to feel helpless in the face of some difficulty

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这项政策旨在帮助低收入家庭改善生活条件。

Zhè xiàng zhèngcè zhǐ zài bāngzhù dī shōurù jiātíng gǎishàn shēnghuó tiáojiàn.

This policy aims to help low-income families improve their living conditions.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...变局 中经院院长连贤明:重谈台美协定是下策

. . . biàn jú zhōng jīng yuàn yuàn cháng lián xián míng : chóng tán tái měi xié dìng shì xià cè

... Changes Lian Xianming, President of the China Economic Institute: Revisiting the Taiwan-US agreement is the last policy

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...还能强多久?新台币盘整静待联准会“华许政策”

. . . hái néng qiáng duō jiǔ ? xīn tái bì pán zhěng jìng dài lián zhǔn huì huá xǔ zhèng cè

... How long can it be strong? The consolidation of the New Taiwan dollar awaits the Federal Reserve's "Huaxu policy"

風傳媒Feb 2026

...e了?专家指苹果算力、制造太依赖两岸:决策近乎失职

. . . e le ? zhuān jiā zhǐ píng guǒ suàn lì , zhì zào tài yī lài liǎng àn : jué cè jìn hū shī zhí

... e? Experts point out that Apple's computing power and manufacturing are too dependent on both sides of the strait: decision-making is almost derelict

百度新闻Feb 2026

美政府移民政策支持率创新低 国土安全部发言人离职

měi zhèng fǔ yí mín zhèng cè zhī chí lǜ chuàng xīn dī guó tǔ ān quán bù fā yán rén chī zhí

U.S. government's immigration policy has record low approval ratings, DHS spokesman departs

百度新闻Feb 2026

温暖守护特别策划:良田与奶奶的“十年之约”

wēn nuǎn shǒu hù tè bié cè huá liáng tián yú nǎi nǎi de shí nián zhī yāo

Warm Guardian Special Program: Yoshida's "Ten-Year Pact" with Grandma

Tatoeba

这个议案合符我们的政策内容。

Zhège yì'àn hé fú wǒmen de zhèngcè nèiróng.

This measure is in accord with our policy.

Tatoeba

这个政策导致物价大幅度的上升。

Zhège zhèngcè dǎozhì wùjià dàfúdù de shàngshēng.

This policy resulted in a great rise in prices.

Tatoeba

希望不是一种策略。

Xīwàng bù shì yīzhǒng cèlüè.

Hope is not a strategy.

Tatoeba

该政策在两种意见之间摇摆。

Gāi zhèngcè zài liǎng zhǒng yìjiàn zhījiān yáobǎi.

The policy fluctuated between two opinions.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced cè

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 策 (cè) mean in Chinese?
策 (cè) primarily means "policy." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #714 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 策 and 刺?
策 (cè) and 刺 (cì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 竹 vs 刂 (same 朿 component).
How many strokes does 策 have?
策 is written with 12 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 策?
The radical associated with 策 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 策?
策 is composed of: ⺮ (semantic), 朿 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮朿 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 策?
Common words with 策 include: 策略 (cè lüè, "strategy"); 策划 (cè huà, "to plot"); 政策 (zhèng cè, "policy"); 决策 (jué cè, "strategic decision"); 束手无策 (shù shǒu wú cè, "lit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom)"). There are over 62 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 策 (cè)?
Several characters share the pronunciation cè: 测 (to survey), 侧 (the side), 册 (book), 厕 ((bound form) restroom). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 策 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 策 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 策 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.