江 (jiāng): river

江 (jiāng) is a Chinese character meaning “river.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 工 (phonetic). It ranks #577 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 江 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 4 Radical: 氵 water6 strokesFrequency #577氵 semantic 工 phonetic

Definitions

river

Etymology & Origin

江

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵工 (layout: left-right)

Components:氵semantic 工phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 江 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
江湖noun	jiāng hú	rivers and lakes
江户proper-noun	jiāng hù	Edo (old name of Tokyo)
江山noun	jiāng shān	rivers and mountains
江南proper-noun	jiāng nán	region of China immediately south of the lower Yangtze River, including Shanghai and adjoining parts of Jiangsu, Anhu...
长江	cháng jiāng	Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang
江水noun	jiāng shuǐ	river water
江河noun	jiāng hé	river
江陵proper-noun	jiāng líng	see 江陵縣\|江陵县
江西proper-noun	jiāng xī	see 江西省
汉江proper-noun	hàn jiāng	Han River
江夏proper-noun	jiāng xià	see 江夏區\|江夏区
江北proper-noun	jiāng běi	Chongqing's main airport
韩江proper-noun	hán jiāng	the Han river in Guangdong
江川	jiāng chuān	see 江川區\|江川区
从江proper-noun	cóng jiāng	see 從江縣\|从江县

102

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

江 appears in 102 compound words: 44 as the first character, 56 as the last, and 0 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 江 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

浙zhè

0.766118,182 co-occurrences

省shěng

0.579103,580 co-occurrences

臣chén

0.56436 co-occurrences

苏sū

0.54661,658 co-occurrences

龙lóng

0.49824,178 co-occurrences

湛zhàn

0.4925,210 co-occurrences

牡mǔ

0.4833,072 co-occurrences

西xī

0.46883,852 co-occurrences

黑hēi

0.45023,950 co-occurrences

湖hú

0.44119,952 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

哀江南赋āi jiāng nán fùHSK 7+

Lament for the South, long poem in Fu style by Yu Xin 庾信 mourning the passing of Liang of the Southern dynasties 南朝梁朝

phrase

半壁江山bànbìjiāngshānHSK 6+

half of the country (usually referring to the unoccupied part of an invaded country)

phrase

倒海翻江dǎo hǎi fān jiāngHSK 4+

see 翻江倒海

phrase

翻江倒海fān jiāng dǎo hǎiHSK 4+

lit. overturning seas and rivers (idiom); fig. overwhelming; earth-shattering

phrase

江湖骗子jiānghú piànziHSK 5+

charlatan; swindler; itinerant con-man

noun

江湖艺人jiāng hú yì rénHSK 5+

itinerant entertainer

phrase

江郎才尽jiānglángcáijìnHSK 5+

to have used up one's creative powers; to have writer's block

phrase

江洋大盗jiāngyángdàdàoHSK 7+

infamous pirate; (by extension) notorious bandit or robber

phrase

浪迹江湖làng jì jiāng húHSK 5+

to roam far and wide; to drift with the wind

phrase

长江三峡Chángjiāng SānxiáHSK 7+

Three Gorges of the Yangtze River

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

长江大桥是这座城市最重要的交通枢纽，每天承载着数十万车辆的通行。

Chángjiāng Dàqiáo shì zhè zuò chéngshì zuì zhòngyào de jiāotōng shūniǔ, měitiān chéngzài zhe shùshí wàn chēliàng de tōngxíng.

The Yangtze River Bridge is the most important transportation hub of this city, carrying hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily.

百度新闻Feb 2026

(新春走基层)从塔里木河到钱塘江:一颗“石榴籽”的..

xīn chūn zǒu jī céng cóng tǎ lǐ mù hé dào qián táng jiāng yī kē shí 榴籽 de . .

(Chinese New Year) From Tarim River to Qiantang River: A "Pomegranate Seed" of...

百度新闻Feb 2026

浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个...

zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě . . .

Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another...

百度新闻Feb 2026

浙江省政府批复同意!宁波一大学将设新学院

zhè jiāng shěng zhèng fǔ pī fù tóng yì ! nìng bō yī dà xué jiāng shè xīn xué yuàn

Zhejiang Provincial Government Approves! A New College to Be Established at a University in Ningbo

百度新闻Feb 2026

南京江宁春节再传佳讯!全球首款轻量化肝脏脂肪定...

nán jīng jiāng nìng chūn jié zài chuán jiā xùn ! quán qiú shǒu kuǎn qīng liáng huā gān zāng zhī fáng dìng . . .

Nanjing Jiangning Delivers More Good News During Spring Festival! World's First Lightweight Liver Fat Detector...

百度新闻Feb 2026

在浙江,看完电影票根别扔!可以当钱用

zài zhè jiāng , kàn wán diàn yǐng piào gēn bié rēng ! kě yǐ dāng qián yòng

In Zhejiang, don't throw away your movie ticket stubs! They can be used as money.

Tatoeba

在江户时代赏月的宴会非常受欢迎。

Zài Jiānghù shídài shǎngyuè de yànhuì fēicháng shòuhuānyíng.

In the Edo period, moon-viewing parties were very popular.

Tatoeba

江山易改，本性难移。

Jiāngshānyìgǎi, běnxìngnányí.

A leopard never changes its spots.

Tatoeba

长江是亚洲的最长江，6380公里。

Cháng Jiāng shì Yàzhōu de zuì cháng jiāng, liù qiān sān bǎi bā shí gōnglǐ.

The Yangtze, at 6,380 km, is Asia's longest river.

Tatoeba

我是在浙江出生的。

Wǒ shì zài Zhèjiāng chūshēng de.

I was born in Zhejiang.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component

没méi 活huó 海hǎi 清qīng 消xiāo 流liú 满mǎn 注zhù 激jī 洛luò

Related Characters

水shuǐ 汉hàn 汽qì 没méi 洗xǐ 渴kě 永yǒng 求qiú 河hé 油yóu

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 江 (jiāng) mean in Chinese?

江 (jiāng) primarily means "river." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #577 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 江 and 经?

江 (jiāng) and 经 (jīng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 氵 vs 纟 (same 工 component).

How many strokes does 江 have?

江 is written with 6 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 江?

The radical associated with 江 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.

What are the components of 江?

江 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 工 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵工 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 江?

Common words with 江 include: 江湖 (jiāng hú, "rivers and lakes"); 江户 (jiāng hù, "Edo (old name of Tokyo)"); 江山 (jiāng shān, "rivers and mountains"); 江南 (jiāng nán, "region of China immediately south of the lower Yangtze River, including Shanghai and adjoining parts of Jiangsu, Anhu..."); 长江 (cháng jiāng, "Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang"). There are over 102 compound words containing this character.

Is 江 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 江 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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