氵

氵 Component (氵)

The 氵 component (氵) is one of the most common building blocks 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 semantic element, contributing meaning related to 氵 and associated concepts to the characters where it appears. It typically appears on the left side of a character. 173 characters: 3 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 16 in HSK 4, 27 in HSK 5, 23 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9. Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.

Radical vs. Component: 氵 is also a Kangxi radical (water). As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For radical-specific details, see the 氵 Radical (氵) page.

氵 Component at a Glance

Total Characters173
Primary RoleSemantic (meaning)
Typical Positionleft side
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (87 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes10
Also a Kangxi Radical?Yes — view radical page

All 氵 Component Characters

HSK 1 (3 characters)

没méi(negative prefix for verbs) have not漂piāoto float汉hànHan ethnic group

HSK 2 (4 characters)

洗xǐto wash酒jiǔalcohol游yóuto walk泳yǒngswimming

HSK 3 (13 characters)

河hériver海hǎisea清qīngclear, pure渴kěthirsty法fǎlaw, method活huóto live沙shāgranule注zhù(bound form) to pour into满mǎnManchu ethnic group澡zǎobath汽qìsteam演yǎnto perform (a play etc)激jīto arouse

HSK 4 (16 characters)

洋yángocean江jiāngriver流liúto flow汤tāngsoup汁zhījuice汗hànsweat温wēnwarm, temperature深shēndeep油yóuoil浪làngwave济jìto cross a river消xiāoto diminish漫mànfree泼pōto splash污wūdirty洲zhōucontinent

HSK 5 (27 characters)

湖húlake池chípool浅qiǎnshallow洞dòngcave, hole湿shīwet治zhìto govern, to treat沉chénto submerge沿yánalong派pài(literary) tributary浏liúclear浓nóngconcentrated淡dàninsipid渐jiānto imbue源yuánroot滑huáto slip漏lòuto leak测cèto survey汇huìto remit泪lèi(bound form) tears泛fàn(bound form) general沟gōuditch滚gǔnto boil漠mòdesert润rùnmoist洒sǎto sprinkle涨zhǎngto rise (of prices, rivers)浇jiāoto pour liquid

HSK 6 (23 characters)

泡pāopuffed涌chōng(used in place names)液yè(bound form) a liquid混hùnto mix潮cháotide洁jiéclean滴dīto drip渡dùto cross浮fúto float港gǎngHong Kong (abbr. for 香港)洪hóngflood泥nímud潜qiánhidden涉shè(literary) to wade across a body of water添tiānto add涵hánto contain淋línto sprinkle汰tàito discard淘táoto wash (rice, sand etc in water to remove impurities)沃wòfertile淹yānto flood浴yùbath漱shùto rinse one's mouth with water

HSK 7-9 (87 characters)

溪xīstream波bōwave泊bóto moor (a boat)湾wānbay泣qìto sob沸fèito boil涝làoflooded澳àoMacao (abbr. for 澳門|澳门)滨bīn(bound form) water's edge沧cāng(bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green澄chéngclear涤díto wash淀diàn(bound form) shallow lake (usu. in place names)溉gàito irrigate沽gūabbr. for Tianjin 天津 (also 津沽)灌guànto irrigate浩hàogrand沪hùshort name for Shanghai淮huáiname of a river浑húnmuddy溅jiànto splash津jīnabbr. for Tianjin 天津浸jìnto immerse沮jǔto destroy溃kuì(bound form) (of floodwaters) to break through a dam or dike澜lánswelling water滥lànoverflowing潦lǎoflooded溜liūto slip away滤lǜto strain泌mì(bound form) to secrete渺miǎo(of an expanse of water) vast沫mòfoam沐mùto bathe潘pānPan, faun in Greek mythology, son of Hermes沛pèicopious浦pǔriver bank瀑bàoshower (rain)沏qīto steep (tea)漆qīpaint洽qiàaccord溶róngto dissolve渗shènto seep涮shuànto rinse溯sùto go upstream滩tānbeach潭tándeep pool淌tǎngto drip涛tāobig wave滔tāo(bound form) to inundate涕tìtears涂túto apply (paint etc)汪wāngexpanse of water涡guōname of a river潇xiāo(of water) deep and clear淆xiáoconfused and disorderly泄xiè(bound form) to leak out泻xièto flow out swiftly汹xiōngtorrential rush汛xùnhigh water涯yáborder衍yǎnto spread out漾yàngto overflow溢yìto overflow渔yúfisherman渝yúshort name for Chongqing 重慶|重庆渊yuāndeep pool泽zépool渣zhāslag (in mining or smelting)沾zhānto moisten沼zhǎopond浙zhèabbr. for Zhejiang 浙江 province in east China滞zhì(bound form) sluggish浊zhuóturbid滋zīto grow汲jísurname Ji泞nìngmuddy涩sèastringent淤yūsilt淳chúngenuine湃pàiused in 澎湃[peng2 pai4]湛zhànsurname Zhan溺nìto drown澈chèclear (water)澎péngused in 澎湃[peng2 pai4]濒bīnto approach瀚hànocean

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters contain the 氵 component (氵)?
There are 173 characters containing the 氵 component (氵) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 3 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 16 in HSK 4, 27 in HSK 5, 23 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9. The most frequently used include 法 (fǎ, "law, method"), 没 (méi, "(negative prefix for verbs) have not"), 海 (hǎi, "sea"), 活 (huó, "to live"), 治 (zhì, "to govern, to treat"). Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.
Is 氵 a radical or a component?
氵 is both. As a Kangxi radical, 氵 (water) is part of the traditional system of 214 radicals used to classify Chinese characters in dictionaries. As a component, 氵 is a building block that contributes meaning, sound, or structure to compound characters. When a character "has the 氵 radical," it means 氵 is the character's primary classifier. When a character "contains the 氵 component," it means 氵 appears in the character's decomposition, regardless of whether it serves as the primary radical.
Where does 氵 appear in a character?
The 氵 component (氵) most commonly appears on the left side of a character. Full position breakdown: left side (172 characters), overlay (1 characters). Knowing where a component typically sits helps with character recognition — when you see 氵 in its usual position, you can quickly identify it and infer the character's meaning or pronunciation.
What HSK levels include 氵 component characters?
Characters containing the 氵 component (氵) appear across 7 HSK levels: 3 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 16 in HSK 4, 27 in HSK 5, 23 in HSK 6, 87 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 87 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common 氵-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).