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Mandarin Chinese Character Radicals
- Mandarin character study previously referenced the 214 Kangxi radicals.1
- For simplified-character indexing, PRC standards since 2009 also use a 201-component system (Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components).2
- Strategy notes in this page are adapted from an implementation write-up in the Art of Memory forum.3
PRC 201 Radicals
Section titled “PRC 201 Radicals”| Stroke count | Radicals |
|---|---|
| 1 | 一 丨 丶 丿 乛 |
| 2 | 十 厂 匚 卜 冂 八 人 勹 儿 匕 几 亠 冫 冖 凵 卩 刀 力 又 厶 廴 |
| 3 | 干 工 土 艹 寸 廾 大 尢 弋 小 口 囗 山 巾 彳 彡 夕 夂 丬 广 门 宀 辶 彐 尸 己 弓 子 屮 女 飞 马 么 巛 |
| 4 | 王 无 韦 木 支 犬 歹 车 牙 戈 比 瓦 止 攴 日 贝 水 见 牛 手 气 毛 长 片 斤 爪 父 月 氏 欠 风 殳 文 方 火 斗 户 心 毋 |
| 5 | 示 甘 石 龙 业 目 田 罒 皿 生 矢 禾 白 瓜 鸟 疒 立 穴 疋 皮 癶 矛 |
| 6 | 耒 老 耳 臣 覀 而 页 至 虍 虫 肉 缶 舌 竹 臼 自 血 舟 色 齐 衣 羊 米 聿 艮 羽 糸 |
| 7 | 麦 走 赤 豆 酉 辰 豕 卤 里 足 邑 身 釆 谷 豸 龟 角 言 辛 |
| 8 | 青 龺 雨 非 齿 黾 隹 阜 金 鱼 隶 |
| 9 | 革 面 韭 骨 香 鬼 食 音 首 |
| 10 | 髟 鬲 鬥 高 |
| 11 | 黄 麻 鹿 |
| 12 | 鼎 黑 黍 |
| 13 | 鼓 鼠 |
| 14 | 鼻 |
| 17 | 龠 |
Radical Workflow
Section titled “Radical Workflow”- Learn keyword image for each radical.
- Write radical by hand 5 times.
- Note stroke order while writing.
- Add to Anki.
- Place keyword image into a dedicated radicals palace.
Practical Mapping Strategy
Section titled “Practical Mapping Strategy”- Start from a radical reference set (for example ArchChinese) and reorder for learning utility, not dictionary order.
- Put very common radicals early on your main palace path.
- Use side roads/branches to add lower-frequency radicals later.
- Keep visually important variants distinct when needed (
亻vs人,忄vs心). - Expect some radicals (for example
口) to consume many loci because of high usage.
Component Verification
Section titled “Component Verification”When encoding vocabulary:
- Check radical/component breakdown in
MDBG. - Cross-check against a second source (for example
Written Chinese) before finalizing cards/scenes.
Book References
Section titled “Book References”- Learning Chinese Characters — Alison Matthews and Laurence Matthews
- Remembering Traditional Hanzi — James W. Heisig and Timothy W. Richardson
Why This Matters
Section titled “Why This Matters”Radicals reduce character learning from random memorization to structured pattern recognition.
Footnotes
Section titled “Footnotes”-
Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components (PRC national standard, 2009; 201 indexing components for simplified characters). ↩︎