巛

River Radical (巛)

chuān · 3 strokes

The river radical (巛) is a less common radical in Chinese. It appears in 3 characters related to river and associated concepts. 3 characters: 1 in HSK 6, 2 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: 巛 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 River Component (巛) page.

River Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count3
Total Characters3
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (2 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes7
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All River Radical Characters

HSK 6 (1 characters)

州zhōuprefecture

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

巢cháonest川chuānabbr. for Sichuan Province 四川 in southwest China

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the river radical mean in Chinese characters?
The river radical (巛) signals a semantic connection to river-related concepts. When you see 巛 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves river or associated ideas. It appears in 3 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 river radical?
There are 3 characters with the river radical (巛) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 6, 2 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental river-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common river radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the river radical (巛) are: 州 (zhōu, "prefecture"), 川 (chuān, "abbr. for Sichuan Province 四川 in southwest China"), 巢 (cháo, "nest"). These high-frequency characters are among the first river-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include river radical characters?
Characters with the river radical (巛) appear across 2 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 6, 2 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 2 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common river-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.