亠

Lid Radical (亠)

tóu · 2 strokes

The lid radical (亠) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 10 characters related to lid and associated concepts. 10 characters: 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 1 in HSK 6, 3 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: 亠 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 Lid Component (亠) page.

Lid Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count2
Total Characters10
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 4 (3 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes7
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Lid Radical Characters

HSK 1 (1 characters)

亮liàngbright

HSK 2 (1 characters)

交jiāoto hand over

HSK 4 (3 characters)

京jīngcapital city of a country产chǎnto give birth亲qīnparent

HSK 5 (1 characters)

享xiǎngto enjoy

HSK 6 (1 characters)

亡wángto die

HSK 7-9 (3 characters)

亦yìalso亩mǔclassifier for fields亭tíngpavilion

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the lid radical mean in Chinese characters?
The lid radical (亠) signals a semantic connection to lid-related concepts. When you see 亠 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves lid 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 lid radical?
There are 10 characters with the lid radical (亠) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 1 in HSK 6, 3 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental lid-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common lid radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the lid radical (亠) are: 产 (chǎn, "to give birth"), 交 (jiāo, "to hand over"), 亲 (qīn, "parent"), 京 (jīng, "capital city of a country"), 亮 (liàng, "bright"). These high-frequency characters are among the first lid-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include lid radical characters?
Characters with the lid radical (亠) appear across 6 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 3 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 1 in HSK 6, 3 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 4 with 3 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common lid-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.