舟

Boat Radical (舟)

zhōu · 6 strokes

The boat radical (舟) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 10 characters related to boat and associated concepts. 10 characters: 2 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 6, 6 in HSK 7-9. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 舟 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Boat Component (舟) page.

Boat Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count6
Total Characters10
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (6 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes11
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Boat Radical Characters

HSK 3 (2 characters)

般bānsort船chuánboat

HSK 4 (1 characters)

航hángboat

HSK 6 (1 characters)

艘sōuclassifier for ships

HSK 7-9 (6 characters)

舟zhōuboat舶bóship舰jiànwarship舱cāngcabin舵duòhelm艇tǐngvessel

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the boat radical mean in Chinese characters?
The boat radical (舟) signals a semantic connection to boat-related concepts. When you see 舟 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves boat or associated ideas. It appears in 10 characters in the HSK character set. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the boat radical?
There are 10 characters with the boat radical (舟) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 2 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 6, 6 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental boat-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common boat radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the boat radical (舟) are: 船 (chuán, "boat"), 般 (bān, "sort"), 航 (háng, "boat"), 舰 (jiàn, "warship"), 艇 (tǐng, "vessel"). These high-frequency characters are among the first boat-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include boat radical characters?
Characters with the boat radical (舟) appear across 4 HSK levels: 2 in HSK 3, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 6, 6 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 6 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common boat-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.