牛

Cow Radical (牛)

niú · 4 strokes

The cow radical (牛) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 10 characters related to cow and associated concepts. 10 characters: 1 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 6, 5 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: 牛 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 Cow Component (牛) page.

Cow Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count4
Total Characters10
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (5 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes8
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Cow Radical Characters

HSK 1 (1 characters)

牛niúox

HSK 3 (2 characters)

特tèspecial物wù(bound form) thing

HSK 6 (2 characters)

牢láofirm牵qiānto lead along

HSK 7-9 (5 characters)

牲shēngdomestic animal牺xīsacrifice牡mǔ(of a bird, animal or plant) male牧mùto herd犀xīrhinoceros

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the cow radical mean in Chinese characters?
The cow radical (牛) signals a semantic connection to cow-related concepts. When you see 牛 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves cow 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 cow radical?
There are 10 characters with the cow radical (牛) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 6, 5 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental cow-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common cow radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the cow radical (牛) are: 物 (wù, "(bound form) thing"), 特 (tè, "special"), 牛 (niú, "ox"), 牧 (mù, "to herd"), 牲 (shēng, "domestic animal"). These high-frequency characters are among the first cow-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include cow radical characters?
Characters with the cow radical (牛) appear across 4 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 3, 2 in HSK 6, 5 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 5 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common cow-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.