What does 雨 mean in Chinese?

雨 is a Chinese character with the radical 雨.

How do you write 雨?

雨 is written with 8 strokes, starting from the 雨 (rain) 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 雨?

The radical of 雨 is 雨 (rain, Kangxi radical #173). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 需, 雪.

How many strokes does 雨 have?

The Chinese character 雨 has 8 strokes.

What HSK level is 雨?

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

雨: Chinese Character Details

雨

HSK 1 character 8 strokes Radical: 雨 (rain)

Quick Answer

雨 is a Chinese character with 8 strokes, radical 雨 (rain), HSK 1 on the new exam.

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

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

雨 is a clear pictograph in oracle bone script, showing drops of water falling from a horizontal line representing the sky or a cloud. Some oracle bone forms depict the drops hanging from an arched line suggesting a cloud; others show a flat line with four or more dots beneath. It is one of the most transparent pictographs in the script.

Form evolution

Bronze inscriptions retain the top line plus suspended droplets, with the droplets increasingly regularized into short vertical strokes. Seal script formalized the shape into a top horizontal, a downward hook enclosing the droplets, and four dots inside. Clerical and modern楷书 flattened the curves into the familiar rectangular frame 雨 with four interior dots.

How the meaning evolved

The meaning has been remarkably stable: 雨 has meant 'rain' from the earliest records to the present. As a verb in classical Chinese it could also mean 'to rain down' or 'to fall like rain', a usage preserved in set phrases. It functions as a radical (雨字头) in many weather-related characters.

Cultural note

雨 is the semantic component in a whole family of weather characters: 雪 (snow), 雷 (thunder), 雾 (fog), 霜 (frost), 霞 (rosy cloud). The idiom 风雨同舟 (fēngyǔtóngzhōu), 'in the same boat through wind and rain', uses 雨 to evoke shared hardship.

Mnemonic

Drops falling from the sky — rain

Basic info

Stroke count	8 strokes
Radical	雨 (#173: rain)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 1
Frequency	#769 most common

Example sentences

今天下雨了。
Jīntiān xià yǔ le.
It rained today.
From 下雨 (HSK 1)
暴风雨即将来临。
Bàofēngyǔ jíjiāng láilín.
A violent storm is approaching.
From 暴风雨
他们经历了许多风雨。
Tāmen jīnglì le xǔduō fēngyǔ.
They experienced many hardships.
From 风雨 (HSK 6)