札 (zhá): thin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient China), a kind of official document (in former times)

札 (zhá) is a Chinese character meaning “thin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient china).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical 木 (tree). It ranks #3548 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 木 tree5 strokesFrequency #3548

Definitions

thin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient China)
a kind of official document (in former times)

Stroke Order

Practice writing 札 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
札幌	zhá huǎng	Sapporo, Japan
札记	zhá jì	reading notes
札达	zhá dá	Zanda county in Ngari prefecture, Tibet, Tibetan: Rtsa mda' rdzong
札格拉布	zhá gé lā bù	Zagreb, capital of Croatia 克羅地亞\|克罗地亚[Ke4 luo2 di4 ya4]
波札那	bō zhá nà	(Tw) Botswana
札格雷布	zhá gé léi bù	Zagreb, capital of Croatia (Tw)
手札	shǒu zhá	(literary) personal letter
信札	xìn zhá	letter
札格瑞布	zhá gé ruì bù	Zagreb, capital of Croatia 克羅地亞\|克罗地亚[Ke4 luo2 di4 ya4]
莫札特	mò zhá tè	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Austrian composer (Tw)
书札	shū zhá	letter
札马鲁丁	zhá mǎ lǔ dīng	see 紮馬剌丁\|扎马剌丁[Za1 ma3 la2 ding1]
札达县	zhá dá xiàn	Zanda county in Ngari prefecture, Tibet, Tibetan: Rtsa mda' rdzong
札马剌丁	zhá mǎ lá dīng	see 紮馬剌丁\|扎马剌丁[Za1 ma3 la2 ding1]
吞米桑布札	tūn mǐ sāng bù zhá	Tunmi Sanghuzha (6th century AD), originator of the Tibetan script

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

札 appears in 17 compound words: 53 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 12 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

札格瑞布ZhágéruìbùHSK 7+

Zagreb (the capital city of Croatia)

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这片森札里生活着许多珍稀的野生动物。

zhè piàn sēn zhá lǐ shēng huó zhe xǔ duō zhēn xī de yě shēng dòng wù .

This forest is home to many rare wild animals.

SmzdmMar 2026

...rnia,来判断你的耳机好坏。#波哥听音札记#hifi#耳机推荐#加州旅馆 #音质...

. . . r n i a , lái pàn duàn nǐ de ěr jī hǎo huài . bō gē tīng yīn zhá jì h i f i ěr jī tuī jiàn jiā zhōu lǚ guǎn yīn zhì . . .

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 札 (zhá) mean in Chinese?

札 (zhá) primarily means "thin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient china)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3548 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 札 and 厚?

札 (zhá) and 厚 (hòu) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 札 (thin) vs 厚 (thick).

How many strokes does 札 have?

札 is written with 5 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 札?

The radical associated with 札 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.

What are common words containing 札?

Common words with 札 include: 札幌 (zhá huǎng, "Sapporo, Japan"); 札记 (zhá jì, "reading notes"); 札达 (zhá dá, "Zanda county in Ngari prefecture, Tibet, Tibetan: Rtsa mda' rdzong"); 札格拉布 (zhá gé lā bù, "Zagreb, capital of Croatia 克羅地亞|克罗地亚[Ke4 luo2 di4 ya4]"); 波札那 (bō zhá nà, "(Tw) Botswana"). There are over 17 compound words containing this character.

Is 札 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

No. The simplified form is 札 and the traditional form is 剳.

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