孝 (xiào): filial piety or obedience, mourning apparel

孝 (xiào) is a Chinese character meaning “filial piety or obedience.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耂 (structural) and 子 (structural). It ranks #2079 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 孝 a young man 子 carrying an older man 耂. Its radical form 子 (child) appears in many related characters such as 子 (zǐ, son), 字 (zì, letter), 学 (xué, to learn).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 子 child7 strokesFrequency #2079耂 structural 子 structural

Definitions

filial piety or obedience
mourning apparel

Etymology & Origin

孝

ideographicA young man 子 carrying an older man 耂

Decomposition: ⿸耂子 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Components:耂structural 子structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 孝 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
孝顺	xiào shùn	filial
孝子	xiào zǐ	filial son
孝敬	xiào jìng	to show filial respect
不孝	bù xiào	unfilial
戴孝	dài xiào	to wear mourning garb
孝道	xiào dao	filial piety (Confucian virtue)
孝心	xiào xīn	filial piety (a Confucian obligation)
守孝	shǒu xiào	to observe mourning for one's parents
尽孝	jìn xiào	to do one's filial duty
不孝有三，无后为大	bù xiào yǒu sān , wú hòu wéi dà	there are three ways to be unfilial
百善孝为先	bǎi shàn xiào wéi xiān	of all virtues filial piety is most important (idiom)
二十四孝	èr shí sì xiào	the Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, classic Confucian text on filial piety from Yuan dynasty
孝成王	xiào chéng wáng	King Xiaocheng of Zhao 趙國\|赵国, reigned 266-245 BC
孝感市	xiào gǎn shì	Xiaogan, prefecture-level city in Hubei Province 湖北省[Hu2 bei3 Sheng3]
孝义市	xiào yì shì	Xiaoyi, a county-level city in Lüliang City 呂梁市\|吕梁市[Lu : 3 liang2 Shi4], Shanxi

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

孝 appears in 46 compound words: 50 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 17 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 孝 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

纬wěi

0.67122,926 co-occurrences

忠zhōng

0.55328,164 co-occurrences

仁rén

0.54732,070 co-occurrences

智zhì

0.51024,756 co-occurrences

皇huáng

0.51035,916 co-occurrences

帝dì

0.50939,054 co-occurrences

端duān

0.50624,762 co-occurrences

敬jìng

0.49112,738 co-occurrences

武wǔ

0.49141,094 co-occurrences

宗zōng

0.46827,774 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

二十四孝Èrshísì XiàoHSK 7+

The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars

披麻带孝pī má dài xiàoHSK 7+

to wear mourning clothes; to be in mourning; also written 披麻戴孝

phrase

披麻戴孝pīmádàixiàoHSK 7+

to be dressed in mourning apparel

phrase

Showing 3 of 4 idioms containing 孝.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

孝字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

xiào zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The character for filial piety is written in a very distinctive way, which left a deep impression on me.

TvbsMar 2026

影音/李孝亮爆双重国籍、闪兵钟小平:现在不弃民调...

yǐng yīn lǐ xiào liàng bào shuāng chóng guó jí , shǎn bīng zhōng xiǎo píng : xiàn zài bù qì mín diào . . .

Media/Li Xiaoliang Reveals Dual Citizenship and Sudden Military Service; Zhong Xiaoping: "We Won't Give Up on the Polls Now..."

BastillepostMar 2026

金孝周Fortinet创办人杯扩大领先优势至...

jīn xiào zhōu F o r t i n e t chuàng bàn rén bēi kuò dà lǐng xiān yōu shì zhì . . .

Kim Hyo-joo Extends Lead in the Fortinet Founder's Cup to...

光明网_新闻视野、文化视角、思想深度、理论高度Mar 2026

一位学者的人文足迹——《费孝通散文》编后记

yī wèi xué zhě de rén wén zú jì — — fèi xiào tōng sàn wén biān hòu jì

A Scholar’s Intellectual Journey: Afterword to *The Essays of Fei Xiaotong*

LtnFeb 2026

过年替山猪尽孝逸祥:只是做我该做的事

guò nián tì shān zhū jǐn xiào yì xiáng : zhī shì zuò wǒ gāi zuò de shì

Filial piety for the wild boar during the New Year Yixiang: Just do what I have to do

百度新闻Feb 2026

米兰冬奥会DAY12观赛指南:刘少昂林孝埈携手冲金

mǐ lán dōng ào huì D A Y 1 2 guàn sài zhǐ nán : liú shǎo áng lín xiào 埈 xié shǒu chōng jīn

Milan Winter Olympics DAY12 viewing guide: Liu Shaoang and Lin Xiaojun join hands to rush gold

Tatoeba

世上有两件事不能等：一、孝顺二、行善。

Shìshàng yǒu liǎng jiàn shì bù néng děng: yī, xiàoshùn èr, xíngshàn.

There are two things in the world that cannot wait: 1. Filial piety, 2. Doing good.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 孝 (xiào) mean in Chinese?

孝 (xiào) primarily means "filial piety or obedience." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2079 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 孝 have?

孝 is written with 7 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 孝?

The radical associated with 孝 is 子 (child). This radical appears in many characters related to child.

What are the components of 孝?

孝 is composed of: 耂 (structural), 子 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸耂子 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 孝?

Common words with 孝 include: 孝顺 (xiào shùn, "filial"); 孝子 (xiào zǐ, "filial son"); 孝敬 (xiào jìng, "to show filial respect"); 不孝 (bù xiào, "unfilial"); 戴孝 (dài xiào, "to wear mourning garb"). There are over 46 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 孝 (xiào)?

Several characters share the pronunciation xiào: 宵 (night), 消 (to diminish), 萧 ((old) Chinese mugwort), 销 (to melt (metal)), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 孝 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

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

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