牍 (dú): documents

牍 (dú) is a Chinese character meaning “documents.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 片 (semantic) and 卖 (phonetic). It ranks #4510 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 牍 page. Its radical form 片 (slice) appears in many related characters such as 片 (piàn, thin piece), 牌 (pái, signboard), 版 (bǎn, a register).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. documents

Etymology & Origin

牍

pictophoneticpage

Decomposition: ⿰片卖 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
连篇累牍phraselián piān lěi dú(of a piece of writing) long and tedious (idiom)
文牍主义wén dú zhǔ yìred tape
长篇累牍cháng piān lěi dú(of a text) very lengthy (idiom)
文牍wén dúpaperwork
书牍nounshū dúletter
案牍nounàn dúofficial documents or correspondence
简牍nounjiǎn dúbamboo and wooden slips (used for writing on in ancient times)
尺牍nounchǐ dú(literary) a one-foot-long strip of wood or bamboo, used for writing in ancient times
8
Total compounds
0
As first character
88
As last character
13
As middle character

牍 appears in 8 compound words: 0 as the first character, 88 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

连篇累牍liánpiānlěidú

lengthy; tedious; verbose

phrase
长篇累牍cháng piān lěi dú

(of a text) very lengthy (idiom)

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

与碑帖专题的借展不同,尺牍部分则呈现浙江省博物馆自身的馆藏家底。

yǔ bēi tiē zhuān tí de jiè zhǎn bù tóng , chǐ dú bù fēn zé chéng xiàn zhè jiāng shěng bó wù guǎn zì shēn de guǎn zàng jiā dǐ .

Unlike the special exhibition on stele rubbings and calligraphy rubbings, which features works on loan, the section on letters showcases the Zhejiang Provincial Museum’s own collection.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

聆听简牍“千年告白” 本报记者 李韵 安胜蓝 竹简,是穿越千年时光的文明信使。

líng tīng jiǎn dú qiān nián gào bái běn bào jì zhě lǐ yùn ān shèng lán zhú jiǎn , shì chuān yuè qiān nián shí guāng de wén míng xìn shǐ .

Listening to the “Millennium Confession” of Bamboo Slips By Li Yun and An Shenglan, Staff Reporters Bamboo slips are messengers of civilization that have traversed a thousand years of history.

中国新闻网·文化May 2026

(寻味中华丨书香)海昏简牍载千秋 汉韵书香阅古今

( xún wèi zhōng huá 丨 shū xiāng ) hǎi hūn jiǎn dú zài qiān qiū hàn yùn shū xiāng yuè gǔ jīn

(Exploring the Flavors of China | The Scent of Books) The Haihun Bamboo and Wooden Slips Record a Thousand Years; The Charm of the Han Dynasty and the Scent of Books Span the Ages

中国新闻网·文化Apr 2026

每当文人搁下笔杆,便将笔轻轻倚在我身上,暂忘案牍劳形,望向这方寸间的天地。

měi dāng wén rén gē xià bǐ gān , biàn jiāng bǐ qīng qīng yǐ zài wǒ shēn shàng , zàn wàng àn dú láo xíng , wàng xiàng zhè fāng cùn jiān de tiān dì .

Whenever a scholar sets down his brush, he gently rests it against me, momentarily forgetting the weariness of his desk work, and gazes out at the world within this small space.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 片 (page) component

片 Radical Family — Characters sharing the slice radical

Related Characters

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 牍 (dú) mean in Chinese?
牍 (dú) primarily means "documents." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4510 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 牍 and 续?
牍 (dú) and 续 (xù) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 片 vs 纟 (same 卖 component).
How many strokes does 牍 have?
牍 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 牍?
The radical associated with 牍 is 片 (slice). This radical appears in many characters related to slice.
What are the components of 牍?
牍 is composed of: 片 (semantic), 卖 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰片卖 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 牍?
Common words with 牍 include: 连篇累牍 (lián piān lěi dú, "(of a piece of writing) long and tedious (idiom)"); 文牍主义 (wén dú zhǔ yì, "red tape"); 长篇累牍 (cháng piān lěi dú, "(of a text) very lengthy (idiom)"); 文牍 (wén dú, "paperwork"); 书牍 (shū dú, "letter"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
Is 牍 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 牍 and the traditional form is 牘.

Practice writing 牍 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.