尧 (yáo): surname Yao, Yao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of the Five legendary Emperors 五帝, second son of Di Ku 帝嚳|帝喾

尧 (yáo) is a Chinese character meaning “yao or tang yao (c. 2200 bc), one of the five legendary emperors 五帝, second son of di ku 帝嚳|帝喾.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 戈 (structural) and 兀 (structural). It ranks #4893 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 尢 lame6 strokesFrequency #4893戈 structural 兀 structural

Definitions

surname Yao
Yao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of the Five legendary Emperors 五帝, second son of Di Ku 帝嚳|帝喾

Stroke Order

Practice writing 尧 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
尧都区	yáo dū qū	Yaodu, a district of Linfen City 臨汾市\|临汾市, Shanxi
舜日尧天	shùn rì yáo tiān	sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom)
舜日尧年	shùn rì yáo nián	sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom)
尧都	yáo dū	see 堯都區\|尧都区
隆尧县	lóng yáo xiàn	Longyao, a county in Xingtai City 邢臺市\|邢台市, Hebei
赵忠尧	zhào zhōng yáo	Zhao Zhongyao (1902-1998), Chinese pioneer nuclear physicist
唐尧	táng yáo	Yao or Tang Yao (c. 2200 BC), one of Five Legendary Emperors 五帝, second son of Di Ku 帝嚳\|帝喾
隆尧proper-noun	lóng yáo	see 隆堯縣\|隆尧县

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

尧 appears in 8 compound words: 25 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

舜日尧年shùn rì yáo nián

sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom); all for the best in the best of all possible worlds

phrase

舜日尧天shùn rì yáo tiān

sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom); all for the best in the best of all possible worlds

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

中新网北京6月17日电(记者王诗尧)近日，一则暖心故事在网络上广泛传播。

zhōng xīn wǎng běi jīng 6 yuè 1 7 rì diàn ( jì zhě wáng shī yáo ) jìn rì , yī zé nuǎn xīn gù shì zài wǎng luò shàng guǎng fàn chuán bō .

China News Network, Beijing, June 17 (Reporter Wang Shiyao) — Recently, a heartwarming story has gone viral online.

中国新闻网·体育Jun 2026

踢球后，他结识了很多好朋友，比如队友卞清尧。

tī qiú hòu , tā jié shí le hěn duō hǎo péng yǒu , bǐ rú duì yǒu 卞 qīng yáo .

After taking up soccer, he made many good friends, such as his teammate Bian Qingyao.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

中新网记者王诗尧摄公共卫生革命：填茅坑、建公厕。

zhōng xīn wǎng jì zhě wáng shī yáo shè gōng gòng wèi shēng gé mìng : tián máo kēng , jiàn gōng cè .

Photo by Wang Shiyao, China News Network. A Public Health Revolution: Filling in outhouses and building public restrooms.

IT之家May 2026

“中国刻蚀机之父”尹志尧：我们现在已经有能力来做最先进的设备

zhōng guó kè shí jī zhī fù yǐn zhì yáo : wǒ men xiàn zài yǐ jīng yǒu néng lì lái zuò zuì xiān jìn de shè bèi

Yin Zhiyao, the “Father of China’s Etching Machines”: “We now have the capability to manufacture state-of-the-art equipment.”

Character Family

尢 Radical Family — Characters sharing the lame radical

就jiù 尤yóu 尴gān 尬gà

Related Characters

就jiù 尤yóu 尬gà 尴gān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 尧 (yáo) mean in Chinese?

尧 (yáo) primarily means "yao or tang yao (c. 2200 bc), one of the five legendary emperors 五帝, second son of di ku 帝嚳|帝喾." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4893 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 尧 have?

尧 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 尧?

The radical associated with 尧 is 尢 (lame). This radical appears in many characters related to lame.

What are the components of 尧?

尧 is composed of: 戈 (structural), 兀 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱戈兀 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 尧?

Common words with 尧 include: 尧都区 (yáo dū qū, "Yaodu, a district of Linfen City 臨汾市|临汾市, Shanxi"); 舜日尧天 (shùn rì yáo tiān, "sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom)"); 舜日尧年 (shùn rì yáo nián, "sage Emperors Shun and Yao rule every day (idiom)"); 尧都 (yáo dū, "see 堯都區|尧都区"); 隆尧县 (lóng yáo xiàn, "Longyao, a county in Xingtai City 邢臺市|邢台市, Hebei"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.

Is 尧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

No. The simplified form is 尧 and the traditional form is 堯.

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