Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

bamboo

Chinese: 竹子。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “zhu” becomes a different word in each tone. 竹 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 竹子zhú zibamboo
  • 爆竹bào zhúfirecracker
  • 竹竿zhú gānbamboo pole
  • 胸有成竹xiōng yǒu chéng zhú(idiom) to have a well-thought-out plan in mind
  • 文竹wén zhúsetose asparagus

Example Sentence

熊猫最爱吃新鲜的竹子。Xióng māo zuì ài chī xīn xiān de zhú zi.Pandas love to eat fresh bamboo.

熊猫Xióng māopandazuìmostàito lovechīto eat新鲜xīn xiānfresh (experience, food etdeof竹子zhú zibamboo

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

A pictograph of two bamboo stalks with drooping leaves. It means ‘bamboo’; flattened on top of other characters it becomes the radical ⺮, as in 笔, 笑, 答.

A way to remember it

Two stalks, each with a leaf hanging down — bamboo.

Easy to confuse with

  • zhú‘(a surname / India)’: the bamboo radical ⺮ on top of 二.