川 (chuān): abbr. for Sichuan Province 四川 in southwest China, (bound form) river, creek
川 (chuān) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) river.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丿 (structural), 丨 (structural) and 丨 (structural). It ranks #1108 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 川 a river's flow; compare 巛. Its radical form 巛 (river) appears in many related characters such as 州 (zhōu, prefecture), 巢 (cháo, nest).
Definitions
- abbr. for Sichuan Province 四川 in southwest China
- (bound form) river
- creek
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA river's flow; compare 巛
Decomposition: ⿲丿丨丨 (layout: left-middle-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 川 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 冰川noun | bīng chuān | glacier |
| 德川proper-noun | dé chuān | Tokugawa, Japanese shogunal clan (1603–1867) |
| 仁川proper-noun | rén chuān | Incheon, a city in South Korea |
| 中川proper-noun | zhōng chuān | Nakagawa (Japanese surname and place name) |
| 山川noun | shān chuān | mountains and rivers |
| 四川proper-noun | sì chuān | see 四川省 |
| 川崎proper-noun | chuān qí | Kawasaki (name) |
| 长谷川proper-noun | cháng gǔ chuān | Hasegawa (Japanese surname) |
| 石川proper-noun | shí chuān | Ishikawa (Japanese surname and place name) |
| 河川noun | hé chuān | rivers |
| 富川proper-noun | fù chuān | see 富川瑤族自治縣|富川瑶族自治县 |
| 川菜noun | chuān cài | Sichuan or Szechuan cuisine |
| 江川 | jiāng chuān | see 江川區|江川区 |
| 利川proper-noun | lì chuān | see 利川市 |
| 四川省 | sì chuān shěng | Sichuan Province, capital Chengdu 成都市 (short name 川 or 蜀) |
川 appears in 100 compound words: 21 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 18 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 川 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 川.
Example Sentences
川字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。
chuān zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .
The way the character "川" is written is quite unique and has left a deep impression on me.
威科夫接受专访透露 奉川普指示会晤伊朗前王储
wēi kē fū jiē shòu zhuān fǎng tòu lù fèng chuān pǔ zhǐ shì huì wù yī lǎng qián wáng chǔ
Wyckoff revealed in an exclusive interview that he was instructed by Trump to meet with the former crown prince of Iran
美国男子冰球队46年来冬奥首次摘金 川普祝贺
měi guó nán zǐ bīng qiú duì 4 6 nián lái dōng ào shǒu cì zhāi jīn chuān pǔ zhù hè
The U.S. men's ice hockey team won gold at the Winter Olympics for the first time in 46 years, and Trump congratulated him
川普:加征15%关税立即生效 全球贸易重返...
chuān pǔ : jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì lì jí shēng xiào quán qiú mào yì chóng fǎn . . .
Trump: The 15% tariff will take effect immediately Global trade returns...
川普全球加征15%关税 专家:“B计画”也...
chuān pǔ quán qiú jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì zhuān jiā : B jì huà yě . . .
Trump imposes 15% tariffs globally Experts: "Plan B" also...
川普:加征15%关税 各国审慎 估不会撤销...
chuān pǔ : jiā zhēng 1 5 guān shuì gè guó shěn shèn gū bù huì chè xiāo . . .
Trump: 15% tariffs are imposed prudently and will not be revoked...
鲍里斯·约翰逊是英国的唐纳·川普。
Bào lǐ sī · Yuēhànxùn shì Yīngguó de Tángnà· Chuānpǔ.
Boris Johnson is the British Donald Trump.
川普是俄罗斯的资产。
Chuānpǔ shì éluósī de zīchǎn.
Trump is a Russian asset.
你好，你是小川先生吗？
Nǐhǎo, nǐ shì Xiǎochuān xiānsheng ma?
Hello, are you Mr Ogawa?
阿尔吉利亚没有冰川。
ā ěr jílì yà méiyǒu bīngchuān.
Algeria has no glaciers.
Character Family
巛 Radical Family — Characters sharing the river radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 川 (chuān) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 川 have?
What is the radical of 川?
What are the components of 川?
What are common words containing 川?
What characters sound the same as 川 (chuān)?
Is 川 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 川 with real-time feedback
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