木

Tree Radical (木)

mù · 4 strokes

The tree radical (木) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 127 characters related to tree and associated concepts. 127 characters: 10 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 15 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9, 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: 木 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 Tree Component (木) page.

Tree Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count4
Total Characters127
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (41 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes10
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Tree Radical Characters

HSK 1 (10 characters)

机jīmachine, opportunity杯bēicup, glass桌zhuōtable, desk椅yǐchair果guǒfruit, result来láito come样yàngmanner校jiàoto check本běn(bound form) root条tiáostrip

HSK 2 (1 characters)

楼lóubuilding, floor

HSK 3 (13 characters)

树shùtree李lǐplum, surname Li根gēnroot, base板bǎnboard, plank梯tīladder, stairs查cháto check, to investigate朵duǒflower极jíextremely楚chǔdistinct检jiǎnto check末mòtip束shùto bind概gài(bound form) general

HSK 4 (18 characters)

林línforest, woods森sēnforest (dense)松sōngpine, loose材cáimaterial, timber桥qiáobridge村cūnvillage植zhíto plant格gépattern, standard杂zámixed术shùmethod标biāomark案àn(legal) case棵kēclassifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc梦mèngdream棒bàngstick染rǎnto dye柿shìpersimmon桶tǒngbucket

HSK 5 (15 characters)

木mùwood/tree架jiàshelf, frame某mǒucertain, some未wèinot yet权quánauthority析xīto separate柜guìcupboard档dàng(bound form) shelves (for files)模móto imitate桃táopeach构gòu(Tw) (coll.) variant of 夠|够梨lípear橙chéngorange tree橘júmandarin orange (Citrus reticulata)橡xiàngoak

HSK 6 (24 characters)

枝zhībranch, twig枪qiānggun柔róusoft柴cháifirewood栏lánfence椒jiāopepper核hépit杀shāto kill榜bǎngnotice or announcement横hénghorizontal杰jié(bound form) hero梁liángLiang Dynasty (502–557)梅méiplum棉miángeneric term for cotton or kapok械xièappliance栋dòngclassifier for houses or buildings棍gùnstick枯kū(of plants) withered朴pǔ(bound form) plain棋qíchess枕zhěn(bound form) pillow株zhūtree trunk棕zōngpalm椎chuíhammer

HSK 7-9 (41 characters)

柱zhùpillar, column朽xiǔrotten棘jíthorns棺guāncoffin杆gānpole柏bǎiTaiwan pr.柄bǐnghandle or shaft (of an axe etc)槽cáotrough橱chúwardrobe杜dùbirchleaf pear (tree)杠gàngcoffin-bearing pole (old)桂guìabbr. for Guangxi Autonomous Region 廣西壯族自治區|广西壮族自治区杭hángabbr. for Hangzhou 杭州槐huáiChinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica)柬jiǎnabbr. for 柬埔寨, Cambodia桨jiǎngoar楷jiēChinese pistachio tree (Pistacia chinensis)槛jiànbanister框kuàngframe (e.g. door frame)棱léngsquare beam柳liǔwillow枚méiclassifier for small objects: coins, badges, rings, carved seals, chess pieces, eggs, fingerprints etc (more formal than 個|个)棚péngshed栖qīto perch桑sāng(bound form) mulberry tree梢shāotip of branch枢shū(bound form) hinge梳shūto comb栓shuānbottle stopper枉wǎngto twist杨yángpoplar椰yē(bound form) coconut palm栽zāito plant枣zǎo(bound form) jujube榨zhàto press杖zhànga staff朱zhūvermilion桩zhuāngstump梭suō(textiles) shuttle椭tuǒellipse檐yáneaves

HSK 7-9 (5 characters)

札zháthin piece of wood used a writing tablet (in ancient China)柯Kēsurname Ke杏xìngapricot桧guìChinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)桢zhēn(old) privet (genus Ligustrum)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the tree radical mean in Chinese characters?
The tree radical (木) signals a semantic connection to tree-related concepts. When you see 木 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves tree or associated ideas. With 127 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 tree radical?
There are 127 characters with the tree radical (木) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 10 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 15 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9, 5 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental tree-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common tree radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the tree radical (木) are: 来 (lái, "to come"), 样 (yàng, "manner"), 本 (běn, "(bound form) root"), 机 (jī, "machine, opportunity"), 果 (guǒ, "fruit, result"). These high-frequency characters are among the first tree-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include tree radical characters?
Characters with the tree radical (木) appear across 8 HSK levels: 10 in HSK 1, 1 in HSK 2, 13 in HSK 3, 18 in HSK 4, 15 in HSK 5, 24 in HSK 6, 41 in HSK 7-9, 5 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 41 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common tree-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.