What does 净 mean in Chinese?

净 is a Chinese character with the radical 冫.

How do you write 净?

净 is written with 8 strokes, starting from the 冫 (ice) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 净?

The radical of 净 is 冫 (ice, Kangxi radical #15). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 决, 准, 减, 冫.

How many strokes does 净 have?

The Chinese character 净 has 8 strokes.

What HSK level is 净?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 净 is a character to recognise at HSK 3 and to write by hand at HSK 3.

净: Chinese Character Details

净

HSK 3 character 8 strokes Radical: 冫 (ice)

Quick Answer

净 is a Chinese character with 8 strokes, radical 冫 (ice), HSK 3 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 净 →Animated stroke-order for 净 →

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

净 is a later phono-semantic compound, not a pictograph with oracle-bone origins. It combines the water radical 氵(water) as the semantic element with 争 (zhēng, to contend) as the phonetic. The water component signals the core meaning of cleansing or washing.

Form evolution

Because 净 was formed after the seal-script period, its history is visible mainly from clerical script onward. The traditional form 淨 kept 争 written with its full seal-era structure on the right. The simplified form 净 standardised in the PRC redraws the right component as 争 in its modern shape, reducing strokes while keeping the 氵 + phonetic layout intact.

How the meaning evolved

The earliest attested senses cluster around water being clear or a place being washed clean. From there 净 extended to abstract cleanness, purity, and moral uprightness. In modern Mandarin it also carries the adverbial sense of only or nothing but, as in 净是 (is nothing but), an extension from the idea of something being purely one thing.

Cultural note

In Peking opera 净 (jìng) is the name of the painted-face role type, the warriors and powerful figures with bold facial makeup. Learners often assume the role name is ironic given the character means clean, but it refers to the patterned, clearly delineated paint rather than a washed face.

Mnemonic

Ice-cold competition to be pure — clean

Decomposition

净=冫radical+争component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Stroke count	8 strokes
Radical	冫 (#15: ice)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 3, write by hand at HSK 3
Frequency	#810 most common

Example sentences

房间很干净。
Fángjiān hěn gānjìng.
The room is very clean.
From 干净 (HSK 3)
山泉水纯净甘甜，可以直接饮用。
Shānquánshuǐ chúnjìng gāntián, kěyǐ zhíjiē yǐnyòng.
Mountain spring water is pure and sweet and can be drunk directly.
From 纯净