业 (yè) is a Chinese character meaning “line of work”. It is written from 丷 (two spreading strokes) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke), one above the other, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “trade; industry”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丷 + 丨 + 丨 + ㇐
Top–bottom structure
- 丷 two spreading strokes unknown
- 丨 vertical stroke · gǔn unknown
- 丨 vertical stroke · gǔn unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+4E1A 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形观察（第 1、2 笔为并立的两条竖，第 3、4 笔为左右分开的两点即丷，第 5 笔为底部长横）
Memory aid
Two posts (丨 丨) stand side by side, with the two small marks of 丷 leaning in from the left and the right like tools hung beside them. A long horizontal (㇐) runs under everything as the workshop floor. Two posts, tools on both sides, one solid floor: the trade you work at.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 工业gōng yèindustry业 = yè
- 作业zuò yèhomework; assignment业 = yè
- 企业qǐ yèenterprise; company业 = yè
- 毕业bì yèto graduate; graduation业 = yèHSK 4
- 业绩yè jìperformance (of a business or employee); track record; achievement业 = yè
- 商业shāng yècommerce; business业 = yè
- 渔业yú yèfishery; fishing industry业 = yè
- 职业zhí yèoccupation; profession业 = yè
Go deeper
All readings
trade; industry; study work
line of work; trade; industry; profession; school work
行业、职业；也指学业和要做的功课。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 工业gōng yèindustry业 = yè
- 作业zuò yèhomework; assignment业 = yè
- 企业qǐ yèenterprise; company业 = yè
- 毕业bì yèto graduate; graduation业 = yèHSK 4
- 业绩yè jìperformance (of a business or employee); track record; achievement业 = yè
- 商业shāng yècommerce; business业 = yè
- 渔业yú yèfishery; fishing industry业 = yè
- 职业zhí yèoccupation; profession业 = yè
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 业 mean?
业 (yè) means line of work; trade; industry; profession; school work.
How do you pronounce 业?
It is pronounced yè.
What parts is 业 made of?
丷 (two spreading strokes) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and 丨 (vertical stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E1A 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形观察（第 1、2 笔为并立的两条竖，第 3、4 笔为左右分开的两点即丷，第 5 笔为底部长横）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 业 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 业?
一. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 业?
Common ones are 工业 and 作业. The reading of 业 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.