之 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “a literary or formal linking word meaning ‘of’”. It takes 3 strokes.
Learn this character
Structure
之
Single unit
- 之 of; it · zhī unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+4E4B and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Trace the three strokes of 之 and read it as zhī, a link meaning ‘of.’
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 之后zhī hòuafter; afterward之 = zhī
- 之一zhī yīone of之 = zhī
Go deeper
All readings
of; it
a literary or formal linking word meaning ‘of’; also a literary pronoun meaning ‘it’ or ‘him/her’
文言或书面语中表示领属、修饰关系，相当于“的”；也可作代词，表示“它”或“他（她）”。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 之后zhī hòuafter; afterward之 = zhī
- 之一zhī yīone of之 = zhī
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 之 mean?
之 (zhī) means a literary or formal linking word meaning ‘of’; also a literary pronoun meaning ‘it’ or ‘him/her’.
How do you pronounce 之?
It is pronounced zhī.
How many strokes does 之 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 之?
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 之?
Common ones are 之后 and 之一. The reading of 之 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.