木

Wood/tree Component (木)

mù · 4 strokes

The wood/tree component (木) 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 wood/tree and associated concepts to the characters where it appears. It typically appears on the left side of a character. 127 characters: 12 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 17 in HSK 5, 25 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9. Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.

Radical vs. Component: 木 is also a Kangxi radical (tree). 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 Wood/tree Radical (木) page.

Wood/tree Component at a Glance

Stroke Count4
Total Characters127
Primary RoleSemantic (meaning)
Typical Positionleft side
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (41 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes10
Also a Kangxi Radical?Yes — view radical page

All Wood/tree Component Characters

HSK 1 (12 characters)

机jīmachine, opportunity杯bēicup, glass桌zhuōtable, desk椅yǐchair果guǒfruit, result休xiūto rest床chuángbed样yàngmanner校jiàoto check本běn(bound form) root条tiáostrip米mǐuncooked rice

HSK 2 (1 characters)

楼lóubuilding, floor

HSK 3 (13 characters)

树shùtree李lǐplum, surname Li根gēnroot, base板bǎnboard, plank梯tīladder, stairs查cháto check, to investigate相xiāngmutual, appearance朵duǒflower极jíextremely检jiǎnto check末mòtip束shùto bind概gài(bound form) general

HSK 4 (18 characters)

林línforest, woods森sēnforest (dense)松sōngpine, loose材cáimaterial, timber桥qiáobridge村cūnvillage植zhíto plant格gépattern, standard杂zámixed术shùmethod标biāomark困kùnto trap案àn(legal) case棵kēclassifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc棒bàngstick染rǎnto dye柿shìpersimmon桶tǒngbucket

HSK 5 (17 characters)

架jiàshelf, frame某mǒucertain, some闲xiánidle, free未wèinot yet权quánauthority析xīto separate柜guìcupboard档dàng(bound form) shelves (for files)模móto imitate桃táopeach采cǎito pick集jíto gather构gòu(Tw) (coll.) variant of 夠|够梨lípear橙chéngorange tree橘júmandarin orange (Citrus reticulata)橡xiàngoak

HSK 6 (25 characters)

枝zhībranch, twig呆dāifoolish枪qiānggun柔róusoft柴cháifirewood栏lánfence椒jiāopepper核hépit杀shāto kill榜bǎngnotice or announcement横hénghorizontal杰jié(bound form) hero梅méiplum棉miángeneric term for cotton or kapok渠qúhow can it be that?械xièappliance栋dòngclassifier for houses or buildings棍gùnstick枯kū(of plants) withered朴pǔ(bound form) plain棋qíchess枕zhěn(bound form) pillow株zhūtree trunk棕zōngpalm椎chuíhammer

HSK 7-9 (41 characters)

柱zhùpillar, column寨zhàistockade朽xiǔrotten棺guāncoffin杆gānpole柏bǎiTaiwan pr.柄bǐnghandle or shaft (of an axe etc)槽cáotrough橱chúwardrobe杜dùbirchleaf pear (tree)杠gàngcoffin-bearing pole (old)桂guìabbr. for Guangxi Autonomous Region 廣西壯族自治區|广西壮族自治区杭hángabbr. for Hangzhou 杭州禾hé(bound form) grain plant槐huáiChinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica)楷jiēChinese pistachio tree (Pistacia chinensis)槛jiànbanister框kuàngframe (e.g. door frame)棱léngsquare beam柳liǔwillow枚méiclassifier for small objects: coins, badges, rings, carved seals, chess pieces, eggs, fingerprints etc (more formal than 個|个)沐mùto bathe棚péngshed栖qīto perch桑sāng(bound form) mulberry tree梢shāotip of branch枢shū(bound form) hinge梳shūto comb栓shuānbottle stopper宋sòngthe Song dynasty (960–1279)枉wǎngto twist杨yángpoplar椰yē(bound form) coconut palm栽zāito plant榨zhàto press杖zhànga staff朱zhūvermilion桩zhuāngstump梭suō(textiles) shuttle椭tuǒellipse檐yáneaves

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters contain the wood/tree component (木)?
There are 127 characters containing the wood/tree component (木) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 12 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 17 in HSK 5, 25 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9. The most frequently used include 样 (yàng, "manner"), 本 (běn, "(bound form) root"), 机 (jī, "machine, opportunity"), 相 (xiāng, "mutual, appearance"), 果 (guǒ, "fruit, result"). Components are identified through character decomposition analysis.
Is 木 a radical or a component?
木 is both. As a Kangxi radical, 木 (tree) is part of the traditional system of 214 radicals used to classify Chinese characters in dictionaries. As a component, 木 is a building block that contributes meaning, sound, or structure to compound characters. When a character "has the wood/tree radical," it means 木 is the character's primary classifier. When a character "contains the wood/tree component," it means 木 appears in the character's decomposition, regardless of whether it serves as the primary radical.
Where does 木 appear in a character?
The wood/tree component (木) most commonly appears on the left side of a character. Full position breakdown: left side (89 characters), bottom (21 characters), top (4 characters), inner (enclosed) part (4 characters), overlay (3 characters), base (3 characters), right side (2 characters), outer (enclosing) part (1 characters). Knowing where a component typically sits helps with character recognition — when you see 木 in its usual position, you can quickly identify it and infer the character's meaning or pronunciation.
What HSK levels include wood/tree component characters?
Characters containing the wood/tree component (木) appear across 7 HSK levels: 12 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 17 in HSK 5, 25 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 41 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common wood/tree-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).