孝

Filial piety or obedience Component (孝)

xiào · 7 strokes

The filial piety or obedience component (孝) is a less common component in Chinese characters. In Chinese, components serve different roles: semantic elements contribute meaning, phonetic elements suggest pronunciation, and structural elements provide the character's framework. It primarily serves as a phonetic element, contributing pronunciation patterns to the characters where it appears. Characters containing 孝 often share the pronunciation jiao: 教, 酵. It typically appears on the left side of a character. 2 characters: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 7-9. Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.

Filial piety or obedience Component at a Glance

Stroke Count7
Total Characters2
Primary RolePhonetic (pronunciation)
Typical Positionleft side
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 2 (1 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes13
Also a Kangxi Radical?No

All Filial piety or obedience Component Characters

HSK 2 (1 characters)

教jiào(bound form) to teach

HSK 7-9 (1 characters)

酵jiàoyeast

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters contain the filial piety or obedience component (孝)?
There are 2 characters containing the filial piety or obedience component (孝) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 7-9. The most frequently used include 教 (jiào, "(bound form) to teach"), 酵 (jiào, "yeast"). Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.
Is 孝 a radical or a component?
孝 is a component but not one of the 214 Kangxi radicals. Kangxi radicals are the traditional set used to classify and look up characters in dictionaries. Components are the broader set of building blocks that make up all Chinese characters — including radicals, phonetic elements, and structural pieces. While 孝 is not used as a dictionary classifier, it plays an important role as a phonetic element in the 2 characters where it appears.
Where does 孝 appear in a character?
The filial piety or obedience component (孝) most commonly appears on the left side of a character. Full position breakdown: left side (1 characters), right side (1 characters). Knowing where a component typically sits helps with character recognition — when you see 孝 in its usual position, you can quickly identify it and infer the character's meaning or pronunciation.
What HSK levels include filial piety or obedience component characters?
Characters containing the filial piety or obedience component (孝) appear across 2 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 2, 1 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 2 with 1 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common filial piety or obedience-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Components are identified through structural decomposition analysis of characters in the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首).