义 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “justice”. It is written from 丶 (dot stroke) and 乂 (crossing strokes), and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “justice; meaning”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丶 + 乂
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+4E49 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Place the dot (丶) above the crossing strokes (乂) to build 义.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 义务yì wùduty; obligation义 = yì
- 意义yì yìmeaning; significance义 = yì
- 侠义xiá yìchivalrous; ready to help the weak out of a sense of justice义 = yì
- 含义hán yìmeaning; implication义 = yì
Go deeper
All readings
justice; meaning
justice; righteousness; meaning; significance; obligation
正义；合宜的道理或行为；意义；应尽的责任。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 义务yì wùduty; obligation义 = yì
- 意义yì yìmeaning; significance义 = yì
- 侠义xiá yìchivalrous; ready to help the weak out of a sense of justice义 = yì
- 含义hán yìmeaning; implication义 = yì
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 义 mean?
义 (yì) means justice; righteousness; meaning; significance; obligation.
How do you pronounce 义?
It is pronounced yì.
What parts is 义 made of?
丶 (dot stroke) and 乂 (crossing strokes). The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E49 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 义 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 义?
丶. 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 义?
Common ones are 义务 and 意义. The reading of 义 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.