What does 影 mean in Chinese?

影 is a Chinese character with the radical 彡.

How do you write 影?

影 is written with 15 strokes, starting from the 彡 (bristle) 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 影?

The radical of 影 is 彡 (bristle, Kangxi radical #59). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 彡.

How many strokes does 影 have?

The Chinese character 影 has 15 strokes.

What HSK level is 影?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 影 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

影: Chinese Character Details

影

HSK 1 character 15 strokes Radical: 彡 (bristle)

Quick Answer

影 is a Chinese character with 15 strokes, radical 彡 (bristle), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

影 has no oracle bone or bronze form. It is a relatively late phono-semantic compound, first appearing in post-Han texts, built on 景 (which originally meant 'sunlight' or 'bright') with three diagonal strokes 彡 added as a semantic marker for patterns, reflections, or decorative marks. The whole graph thus denotes the visible trace cast by light.

Form evolution

Since 影 was coined after the clerical reform, its form has been consistent: 景 on the left and 彡 on the right. 景 itself is 日 (sun) over 京 (a tall building), picturing the shadow cast by sunlight on a structure. The modern 楷书 form is essentially identical to the clerical one, with no simplification in either the mainland or traditional script.

How the meaning evolved

Originally 景 alone carried both the senses of 'sunlight' and 'shadow', and 影 was created specifically to disambiguate the shadow meaning. From 'shadow' it extended to any visual image or reflection (倒影, reflection in water), then to photographs, films, and moving pictures (电影, 影片, 摄影). Modern usage covers the full range from literal shadow to cinema.

Cultural note

The idiom 杯弓蛇影 ('seeing a bow's reflection in a cup as a snake') captures the idea of a harmless image mistaken for a real threat, and is still used today to describe baseless paranoia. The 彡 component on the right appears in many characters involving patterns, hair, or decorative lines (形, 彩, 彭).