漆 (qī): paint, lacquer, CL:道

漆 (qī) is a Chinese character meaning “paint.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (structural) and 桼 (structural). It ranks #2235 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 漆 the sap 氵 of the varnish tree 桼; 桼 also provides the pronunciation. 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

Definitions

  1. paint
  2. lacquer
  3. CL:道

Etymology & Origin

漆

ideographicThe sap 氵 of the varnish tree 桼; 桼 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰氵桼 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
油漆nounyóu qīoil paints
漆黑adjectiveqī hēipitch-black
喷漆nounpēn qīto spray paint or lacquer
漆布qī bùvarnished cloth
漆树nounqī shùlac tree (Rhus vernicifera)
乳胶漆rǔ jiāo qīlatex paint
漆黑一团phraseqī hēi yī tuánpitch-black
一团漆黑phraseyī tuán qī hēipitch-dark
黑漆麻花hēi qī má huāpitch-dark
绝热漆jué rè qīheat-resistant paint
生漆nounshēng qīraw lacquer
漆树科qī shù kēAnacardiaceae, plant family including lac tree (Rhus vernicifera) 漆樹|漆树
油光漆yóu guāng qīvarnish
如胶似漆phraserú jiāo sì qīstuck together as by glue (of lovers)
光漆guāng qīgloss paint
28
Total compounds
32
As first character
50
As last character
18
As middle character

漆 appears in 28 compound words: 32 as the first character, 50 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 漆 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

咸xián
0.500994 co-occurrences
油yóu
0.4733,698 co-occurrences
涂tú
0.469406 co-occurrences
烤kǎo
0.466296 co-occurrences
喷pēn
0.455442 co-occurrences
黑hēi
0.4463,863 co-occurrences
棺guān
0.409130 co-occurrences
雕diāo
0.406466 co-occurrences
器qì
0.4031,830 co-occurrences
锈xiù
0.39040 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

漆黑一团qīhēiyītuánHSK 7+

synonym of 一團漆黑 /一团漆黑 (yītuánqīhēi)

phrase
一团漆黑yītuánqīhēiHSK 7+

pitch-dark; utterly hopeless

phrase

Showing 2 of 3 idioms containing 漆.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这条漆流经三个省份,滋养了沿岸的农田。

zhè tiáo qī liú jīng sān gě shěng fèn , zī yǎng le yán àn de nóng tián .

This river flows through three provinces, nourishing the farmlands along its banks.

少数派Aug 2026

染谷将太把亦正亦邪的漆原医生塑造得很出色,在道德与理想的边界痛苦挣扎。

rǎn gǔ jiāng tài bǎ yì zhèng yì xié de qī yuán yī shēng sù zào dé hěn chū sè , zài dào dé yǔ lǐ xiǎng de biān jiè tòng kǔ zhèng zhā .

Shota Someya delivers an outstanding portrayal of Dr. Urushibara, a character who straddles the line between good and evil, as he struggles agonizingly on the boundary between morality and ideals.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

此外,战国漆木镇墓兽头顶高耸鹿角。

cǐ wài , zhàn guó qī mù zhèn mù shòu tóu dǐng gāo sǒng lù jiǎo .

In addition, the Warring States-period lacquered wooden grave guardian animal features tall, towering antlers on its head.

爱范儿Aug 2026

问界为它准备了金瑞红、赛里木青和暖云白三款配色,并使用车规级金属漆。

wèn jiè wéi tā zhǔn bèi le jīn ruì hóng , sài lǐ mù qīng hé nuǎn yún bái sān kuǎn pèi sè , bìng shǐ yòng chē guī jí jīn shǔ qī .

AITO has prepared three color options for this model—Jinrui Red, Sayram Blue, and Warm Cloud White—and has used automotive-grade metallic paint.

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Mar 2026

【晒晒咱的镇馆之宝48】固原北魏漆棺画:微缩的文明交流图

shài shài zán de zhèn guǎn zhī bǎo 4 8 gù yuán běi wèi qī guān huà : wēi suō de wén míng jiāo liú tú

[Showcasing Our Museum’s Treasures #48] Paintings on the Northern Wei Lacquer Coffin from Guyuan: A Miniature Portrait of Cultural Exchange

Cool3cMar 2026

Casio推出越前漆工艺限量计算机S100X-JC1-U,全...

C a s i o tuī chū yuè qián qī gōng yì xiàn liàng jì suàn jī S 1 0 0 X J C 1 U , quán . . .

Casio has launched the S100X-JC1-U, a limited-edition calculator featuring Echizen lacquer craftsmanship, with...

Tatoeba

为什么你把长凳漆成红色了?

Wèishénme nǐ bǎ chángdèng qī chéng hóngsè le?

Why did you paint the bench red?

Tatoeba

汤姆想把房子漆成绿色,是真的吗?

Tāngmǔ xiǎng bǎ fángzi qī chéng lǜsè, shì zhēn de ma?

Is it true Tom wants to paint his house green?

Tatoeba

走进了漆黑的隧道后,我们什么也看不见。

Zǒujìn le qīhēi de suìdào hòu, wǒmen shénme yě kànbujiàn.

On entering a dark tunnel, we could see nothing.

Tatoeba

我让他油漆了这个栅栏。

Wǒ ràng tā yóuqī le zhège zhàlán.

I got him to paint the fence.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced qī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 漆 (qī) mean in Chinese?
漆 (qī) primarily means "paint." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2235 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 漆 have?
漆 is written with 14 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 漆?
The radical associated with 漆 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 漆?
漆 is composed of: 氵 (structural), 桼 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵桼 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 漆?
Common words with 漆 include: 油漆 (yóu qī, "oil paints"); 漆黑 (qī hēi, "pitch-black"); 喷漆 (pēn qī, "to spray paint or lacquer"); 漆布 (qī bù, "varnished cloth"); 漆树 (qī shù, "lac tree (Rhus vernicifera)"). There are over 28 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 漆 (qī)?
Several characters share the pronunciation qī: 起 (to rise), 其 (his), 气 (gas), 期 (period, expect), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 漆 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 漆 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 漆 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.