彡

Bristle Radical (彡)

shān · 3 strokes

The bristle radical (彡) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 6 characters related to bristle and associated concepts. 6 characters: 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9, 1 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: 彡 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 Bristle Component (彡) page.

Bristle Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters6
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (2 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes12
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Bristle Radical Characters

HSK 1 (1 characters)

影yǐngpicture

HSK 4 (1 characters)

彩cǎi(bright) color

HSK 5 (1 characters)

形xíngto appear

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

彬bīnurbane彰zhāngclear

HSK 7-9 (1 characters)

彭Péngsurname Peng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the bristle radical mean in Chinese characters?
The bristle radical (彡) signals a semantic connection to bristle-related concepts. When you see 彡 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves bristle or associated ideas. It appears in 6 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 bristle radical?
There are 6 characters with the bristle radical (彡) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9, 1 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental bristle-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common bristle radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the bristle radical (彡) are: 形 (xíng, "to appear"), 影 (yǐng, "picture"), 彩 (cǎi, "(bright) color"), 彬 (bīn, "urbane"), 彰 (zhāng, "clear"). These high-frequency characters are among the first bristle-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include bristle radical characters?
Characters with the bristle radical (彡) appear across 5 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9, 1 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 2 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common bristle-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.