卩

Seal Radical (卩)

jié · 2 strokes

The seal radical (卩) is a radical found in Chinese. It appears in 9 characters related to seal and associated concepts. 9 characters: 1 in HSK 3, 4 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: 卩 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 Seal Component (卩) page.

Seal Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count2
Total Characters9
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 4 (4 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes7
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Seal Radical Characters

HSK 3 (1 characters)

卫wèivassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces

HSK 4 (4 characters)

印yìnabbr. for 印度, India危wēidanger即jínamely却quèbut

HSK 5 (1 characters)

卷juǎnto roll up

HSK 7-9 (2 characters)

卵luǎnegg卸xièto unload

HSK 7-9 (1 characters)

卿qīnghigh ranking official (old)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the seal radical mean in Chinese characters?
The seal radical (卩) signals a semantic connection to seal-related concepts. When you see 卩 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves seal or associated ideas. It appears in 9 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 seal radical?
There are 9 characters with the seal radical (卩) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 1 in HSK 3, 4 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 seal-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common seal radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the seal radical (卩) are: 却 (què, "but"), 即 (jí, "namely"), 印 (yìn, "abbr. for 印度, India"), 卫 (wèi, "vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces"), 危 (wēi, "danger"). These high-frequency characters are among the first seal-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include seal radical characters?
Characters with the seal radical (卩) appear across 5 HSK levels: 1 in HSK 3, 4 in HSK 4, 1 in HSK 5, 2 in HSK 7-9, 1 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 4 with 4 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common seal-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.