艹

艹 Component (艹)

The 艹 component (艹) 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 艹 and associated concepts to the characters where it appears. It typically appears on the top of a character. 92 characters: 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 4 in HSK 3, 7 in HSK 4, 9 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 61 in HSK 7-9. Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.

Radical vs. Component: 艹 is also a Kangxi radical (grass). 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 艹 Radical (艹) page.

艹 Component at a Glance

Total Characters92
Primary RoleSemantic (meaning)
Typical Positiontop
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (61 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes11
Also a Kangxi Radical?Yes — view radical page

All 艹 Component Characters

HSK 1 (3 characters)

茶chátea菜càivegetable, dish苹píng(artemisia)

HSK 2 (2 characters)

花huāflower药yàomedicine

HSK 3 (4 characters)

草cǎograss蓝lánblue节jiéfestival, section蕉jiāobanana

HSK 4 (7 characters)

苦kǔbitter, suffer落luòto fall, to drop著zhùfamous, to write葡púgrape萄táogrape获huò(literary) to catch艺yìskill

HSK 5 (9 characters)

薄báothin荐jiànto recommend荣róngglory蔬shūvegetables范fànpattern营yíngcamp劳láo(bound form) to toil藏zàngTibet茄jiāphonetic character used in loanwords for the sound "jia", although 夾|夹 is more common

HSK 6 (6 characters)

英yīnghero, England蓄xùto store up菌jūngerm薯shǔpotato薪xīn(literary) firewood菊jú(bound form) chrysanthemum

HSK 7-9 (61 characters)

蒸zhēngto steam苏sūrevive荷hélotus, Holland蒙méngto cover, Mongolia董dǒngdirector蔽bìto cover, to hide蓬péngfluffy莫mòdo not蕾lěibud莲liánlotus卉huìplants萝luóradish若ruòto seem蔼ǎifriendly艾àiChinese mugwort or wormwood芭bāan unidentified fragrant plant mentioned in the Songs of Chu 楚辭|楚辞苍cāngdark blue葱cōngscallion荡dàngto wash蒂dìstem (of fruit)芳fāngfragrant芬fēnperfume菇gū(bound form) mushroom茎jīngstalk苛kēsevere芦lúrush蔓màncreeper芒mángawn (of cereals)茫mángvast, with no clear boundary莽mǎng(bound form) dense growth of grass茅máoreeds茂màoluxuriant萌méng(bound form) to sprout苗miáoHmong or Miao ethnic group of southwest China蔑mièto belittle蘑mómushroom萍píngduckweed菩púused in 菩薩|菩萨萨sàused in 菩薩|菩萨[pu2 sa4]蒜suàngarlic藤téngrattan萎wěito wither萧xiāo(old) Chinese mugwort芯xīn(bound form) the pith of the rush plant (used as a lampwick)芽yábud荫yìn(bound form) shade (of a tree)荧yínga glimmer莹yíngluster of gems蕴yùnto accumulate葬zàngto bury (the dead)藻zǎoaquatic grasses蘸zhànto dip in (ink, sauce etc)芝zhīZoysia pungens苟gǒusurname Gou茁zhuóto display vigorous, new growth茉mòused in 茉莉[mo4 li4]荤hūnstrong-smelling vegetable (garlic etc)莅lìriver in Hebei莉lìused in 茉莉[mo4 li4]蔚yùsurname Yu藐miǎoto despise

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters contain the 艹 component (艹)?
There are 92 characters containing the 艹 component (艹) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 4 in HSK 3, 7 in HSK 4, 9 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 61 in HSK 7-9. The most frequently used include 英 (yīng, "hero, England"), 花 (huā, "flower"), 落 (luò, "to fall, to drop"), 节 (jié, "festival, section"), 营 (yíng, "camp"). Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.
Is 艹 a radical or a component?
艹 is both. As a Kangxi radical, 艹 (grass) is part of the traditional system of 214 radicals used to classify Chinese characters in dictionaries. As a component, 艹 is a building block that contributes meaning, sound, or structure to compound characters. When a character "has the 艹 radical," it means 艹 is the character's primary classifier. When a character "contains the 艹 component," it means 艹 appears in the character's decomposition, regardless of whether it serves as the primary radical.
Where does 艹 appear in a character?
The 艹 component (艹) most commonly appears on the top of a character. Full position breakdown: top (91 characters), bottom (1 characters). Knowing where a component typically sits helps with character recognition — when you see 艹 in its usual position, you can quickly identify it and infer the character's meaning or pronunciation.
What HSK levels include 艹 component characters?
Characters containing the 艹 component (艹) appear across 7 HSK levels: 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 4 in HSK 3, 7 in HSK 4, 9 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 61 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 61 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common 艹-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).