玉 yù — jade
她戴着一只漂亮的玉镯。Tā dài zhe yì zhī piào liang de yù zhuó.She is wearing a beautiful jade bracelet.
Common words: 玉米 (yù mǐ)、碧玉 (bì yù)、玉人 (yù rén)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "jade"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "jade", including 玉 (yù), 璇 (xuán), 碧 (bì). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "jade" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 玉 (yù), 璇 (xuán), 碧 (bì) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span yù, xuán, bì — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 玉 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 玉 yùjadeUseful words: 玉米, 碧玉
- 璇 xuán(jade)Useful words: 周璇, 天璇
- 碧 bìgreen jade; bluish green; blue; jadeUseful words: 碧玉, 碧绿
Common words for these 3 "jade" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 玉 (yù) — so "jade" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
玉米yù mǐcorn; maize碧玉bì yùjasper玉人yù réna jade worker; a jade statuette; a beautiful person; (term of endearment)周璇zhōu xuánZhou Xuan (1918-1957), Chinese singer and film actress天璇tiān xuánMerak; Beta Ursae Majoris in the Big Dipper唐家璇táng jiā xuánTang Jiaxuan (1938-), politician and diplomat碧玉bì yùjasper碧绿bì lǜdark green碧空bì kōnga clear blue sky
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "jade".
璇 xuán — (jade)
璇是一种美玉，常用在人名里。Xuán shì yì zhǒng měi yù, cháng yòng zài rén míng lǐ.The character xuan refers to a fine jade and is often used in names.
Common words: 周璇 (zhōu xuán)、天璇 (tiān xuán)、唐家璇 (táng jiā xuán)
碧 bì — green jade; bluish green; blue; jade
湖水碧绿碧绿的，像一块翡翠。Hú shuǐ bì lǜ bì lǜ de, xiàng yí kuài fěi cuì.The lake water is emerald green, like a piece of jade.
Common words: 碧玉 (bì yù)、碧绿 (bì lǜ)、碧空 (bì kōng)
All 3 characters
Open 玉、璇、碧 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.