毓 (yù): (literary) to produce, to foster, to nurture

毓 (yù) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) to produce.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 每 (structural) and 㐬 (structural). It ranks #9999 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 毓 mother. Its radical form 毋 (do not) appears in many related characters such as 每 (měi, each), 母 (mǔ, mother), 毒 (dú, poison).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (literary) to produce
  2. to foster
  3. to nurture

Etymology & Origin

毓

pictophoneticmother

Decomposition: ⿰每㐬 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
钟灵毓秀phrasezhōng líng yù xiù(of a place) endowed with a natural beauty that nurtures people of talent (idiom)
孙毓棠sūn yù tángSun Yutang (1911-1985), historian and poet, studied in Tokyo, Oxford and Harvard
毓婷yù tíngYuting, trade name of an emergency birth control tablet containing the hormonal medication levonorgestrel
3
Total compounds
33
As first character
0
As last character
67
As middle character

毓 appears in 3 compound words: 33 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 67 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

钟灵毓秀zhōnglíngyùxiù

a good environment produces excellent people

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

时任雷峰塔地宫考古发掘领队黎毓馨回忆。

shí rèn léi fēng tǎ dì gōng kǎo gǔ fā jué lǐng duì lí yù xīn huí yì .

Li Yuxin, who was the head of the archaeological excavation team at the Lei Feng Pagoda’s underground chamber at the time, recalled.

IT之家Sep 2026

宁德时代曾毓群:行业比速度、比参数、比低价,但这是以牺牲产品质量和消费者信任为代价

níng dé shí dài céng yù qún : xíng yè bǐ sù dù , bǐ cān shǔ , bǐ dī jià , dàn zhè shì yǐ xī shēng chǎn pǐn zhì liàng hé xiāo fèi zhě xìn rèn wéi dài jià

Zeng Yuqun of CATL: The industry competes on speed, specifications, and low prices, but this comes at the expense of product quality and consumer trust.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

此次活动以“山川毓秀故纸含情”为主题,核心内容是晒享珍贵古籍。

cǐ cì huó dòng yǐ shān chuān yù xiù gù zhǐ hán qíng wéi zhǔ tí , hé xīn nèi róng shì shài xiǎng zhēn guì gǔ jí .

The theme of this event is “Scenic Mountains and Rivers, Historic Texts Full of Emotion,” and its core focus is on showcasing and sharing precious ancient texts.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

通过考古研究,何毓灵发现,她集军权与神权于一身,兼具威仪与温情。

tōng guò kǎo gǔ yán jiū , hé yù líng fā xiàn , tā jí jūn quán yǔ shén quán yú yī shēn , jiān jù wēi yí yǔ wēn qíng .

Through archaeological research, He Yuling discovered that she combined military and divine authority, embodying both majesty and compassion.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

浙江钟灵毓秀、名人辈出,他们曾在不同时代留下璀璨足迹与宝贵精神财富。

zhè jiāng zhōng líng yù xiù , míng rén bèi chū , tā men céng zài bù tóng shí dài liú xià cuǐ càn zú jì yǔ bǎo guì jīng shén cái fù .

Zhejiang is a land of natural beauty and cultural heritage, having produced a succession of distinguished figures who have left behind a brilliant legacy and a precious spiritual heritage throughout the ages.

Character Family

毋 Radical Family — Characters sharing the do not radical

Related Characters

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 毓 (yù) mean in Chinese?
毓 (yù) primarily means "(literary) to produce." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #9999 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 毓 have?
毓 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 毓?
The radical associated with 毓 is 毋 (do not). This radical appears in many characters related to do not.
What are the components of 毓?
毓 is composed of: 每 (structural), 㐬 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰每㐬 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 毓?
Common words with 毓 include: 钟灵毓秀 (zhōng líng yù xiù, "(of a place) endowed with a natural beauty that nurtures people of talent (idiom)"); 孙毓棠 (sūn yù táng, "Sun Yutang (1911-1985), historian and poet, studied in Tokyo, Oxford and Harvard"); 毓婷 (yù tíng, "Yuting, trade name of an emergency birth control tablet containing the hormonal medication levonorgestrel"). There are over 3 compound words containing this character.
Is 毓 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 毓 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 毓 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.