竹

Bamboo Radical (竹)

zhú · 6 strokes

The bamboo radical (竹) is a frequently seen radical in Chinese. It appears in 40 characters related to bamboo and associated concepts. 40 characters: 1 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 6 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 7 in HSK 7-9, 9 outside the HSK syllabus. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Bamboo Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count6
Total Characters40
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (7 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes13
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Bamboo Radical Characters

HSK 1 (1 characters)

第dì(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")

HSK 2 (4 characters)

等děngto wait for笑xiàoto laugh笔bǐwriting brush篮lánbasket (receptacle)

HSK 3 (5 characters)

简jiǎnsimple答dáto answer筷kuàichopstick算suànto regard as箱xiāngbox

HSK 4 (6 characters)

管guǎnto take care (of)签qiānto sign one's name篇piānsheet笨bènstupid符fúmark籍jí(bound form) book

HSK 5 (2 characters)

筑zhùshort name for Guiyang 貴陽|贵阳竹zhú(bound form) bamboo

HSK 6 (6 characters)

策cèpolicy箭jiànarrow筹chóuchip (in gambling)笼lóngenclosing frame made of bamboo, wire etc筛shāi(bound form) a sieve筒tǒngtube

HSK 7-9 (7 characters)

竿gānpole篷péngsail笛díflute簇cù(bound form) to cluster筋jīnmuscle筐kuāngbasket筝zhēngzither (Chinese plucked string instrument)

Not in HSK (9 characters)

篆zhuànseal (of office)竺zhú(archaic) Buddhism篡cuànto seize簪zānhairpin笃dǔ(bound form) sincere箍gūhoop笋sǔnbamboo shoot笺jiānletter箸zhù(literary) chopsticks

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the bamboo radical mean in Chinese characters?
The bamboo radical (竹) signals a semantic connection to bamboo-related concepts. When you see 竹 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves bamboo or associated ideas. With 40 characters using this radical, it is one of the more productive radicals in Chinese. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the bamboo radical?
There are 31 characters with the bamboo radical (竹) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 6 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 7 in HSK 7-9. Another 9 characters are outside the HSK syllabus. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental bamboo-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common bamboo radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the bamboo radical (竹) are: 第 (dì, "(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")"), 等 (děng, "to wait for"), 管 (guǎn, "to take care (of)"), 笑 (xiào, "to laugh"), 算 (suàn, "to regard as"). These high-frequency characters are among the first bamboo-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include bamboo radical characters?
Characters with the bamboo radical (竹) appear across 7 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 1, 4 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 6 in HSK 4, 2 in HSK 5, 6 in HSK 6, 7 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 7 characters. Another 9 characters are outside the HSK syllabus. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common bamboo-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on 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.