What does 早 mean in Chinese?

早 is a Chinese character with the radical 日.

How do you write 早?

早 is written with 6 strokes, starting from the 日 (sun) 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 早?

The radical of 早 is 日 (sun, Kangxi radical #72). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 时, 明, 日, 是.

How many strokes does 早 have?

The Chinese character 早 has 6 strokes.

What HSK level is 早?

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

早: Chinese Character Details

早

HSK 1 character 6 strokes Radical: 日 (sun)

Quick Answer

早 is a Chinese character with 6 strokes, radical 日 (sun), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

早 is a compound of 日 (sun) over what appears in later scripts as 十, though the bottom element in oracle bone and bronze forms varies. One traditional analysis treats the lower component as a depiction of a person or a helmet, with the sun rising above it to indicate early morning. Another reading sees the bottom as 甲 (the first heavenly stem), suggesting 'the sun at the first hour.'

Form evolution

Early forms show 日 above a more elaborate bottom component that gradually simplified. Seal script standardised the shape into 日 over a cross-like element. Clerical script reduced the bottom to the simple 十 shape seen today, and楷书 preserved this clean two-part structure: 日 above 十.

How the meaning evolved

The core meaning 'early morning' or 'at dawn' has been stable since the oracle bone period. It extended to mean 'early' in a general temporal sense (before the expected time) and then to 'already' or 'long ago,' as in 早就 (already, long since). Modern usage covers all of these: 早上 (morning), 早点 (breakfast), 早晚 (sooner or later).

Cultural note

早 is the standard morning greeting in Mandarin, equivalent to 'morning!' in English. The idiom 早出晚归 (leave early, return late) describes someone who works hard all day. Learners sometimes write 早 with the bottom as 干 instead of 十; the correct bottom stroke is a single vertical crossed by one horizontal.

Mnemonic

The sun over the cross — early morning

Decomposition

早=日radical+十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	6 strokes
Radical	日 (#72: sun)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1
Frequency	#781 most common

Example sentences

早上我喝咖啡。
Zǎoshang wǒ hē kāfēi.
In the morning I drink coffee.
From 早上 (HSK 1)
只要坚持努力，迟早会实现自己的梦想。
Zhǐyào jiānchí nǔlì, chízǎo huì shíxiàn zìjǐ de mèngxiǎng.
As long as you persist in working hard, you will realize your dreams sooner or later.
From 迟早 (HSK 7-9)