土

Earth Radical (土)

tǔ · 3 strokes

The earth radical (土) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 65 characters related to earth and associated concepts. 65 characters: 3 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 10 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 8 in HSK 6, 24 in HSK 7-9, 8 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: 土 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 Earth Component (土) page.

Earth Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters65
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (24 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes10
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Earth Radical Characters

HSK 1 (3 characters)

坐zuòto sit块kuàipiece, lump在zàito exist

HSK 2 (3 characters)

地dìearth, ground场chǎngfield, place坏huàibad, broken

HSK 3 (3 characters)

城chéngcity, wall境jìngborder, situation坚jiānstrong

HSK 4 (10 characters)

土tǔearth, soil增zēngincrease基jībase, foundation堂tánghall垃lāgarbage圾jīgarbage填tiánto fill in堵dǔto block up (a road, pipe etc)塑sùto model (a figure) in clay址zhǐ(bound form) site

HSK 5 (6 characters)

培péito cultivate, to train堆duīto pile, to heap墙qiángwall域yùregion, area型xíngtype, model均jūn(bound form) equal

HSK 6 (8 characters)

坡pōslope埋máito bury坛tánaltar, forum壁bìwall塞sāito plug塔tǎpagoda (abbr. for 塔婆, a loanword from Sanskrit stūpa)垂chuíto hang (down)壤rǎng(bound form) soil

HSK 7-9 (24 characters)

坦tǎnflat, candid堡bǎofort, castle墅shùvilla墓mùgrave圣shèng(bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc)坝bà(used in place names) plain堤dīdike垫diànpad堕duòto fall坟féngrave堪kān(bound form) may垦kěnto reclaim (land)坑kēngpit垮kuǎto collapse (lit. or fig.)垒lěirampart垄lǒngridge between fields坪pínga plain塌tāto collapse塘tángdyke墟xūruins坠zhuìto fall坊fāngsurname Fang坎kǎnpit坷kēused in 坷垃[ke1 la1]

HSK 7-9 (8 characters)

埃Āidust圳zhèn(dialect) drainage ditch between fields (Taiwan pr. )墩dūnblock圭guīsundial埠bùwharf埔bùused in place names坞wù(bound form) low area within a surrounding barrier坤kūnfemale principle

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the earth radical mean in Chinese characters?
The earth radical (土) signals a semantic connection to earth-related concepts. When you see 土 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves earth or associated ideas. With 65 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 earth radical?
There are 65 characters with the earth radical (土) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 3 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 10 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 8 in HSK 6, 24 in HSK 7-9, 8 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental earth-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common earth radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the earth radical (土) are: 在 (zài, "to exist"), 地 (dì, "earth, ground"), 场 (chǎng, "field, place"), 基 (jī, "base, foundation"), 城 (chéng, "city, wall"). These high-frequency characters are among the first earth-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include earth radical characters?
Characters with the earth radical (土) appear across 8 HSK levels: 3 in HSK 1, 3 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 3, 10 in HSK 4, 6 in HSK 5, 8 in HSK 6, 24 in HSK 7-9, 8 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 24 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common earth-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.