塔 (tǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “tower”. It is written from 土 (earth; soil) and 荅 (small bean (old form, also an old form of 答)), side by side, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “tower; pagoda”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
土 + 荅
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 现代字形拆分 ⿰土荅；与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：土 3 笔 + 荅 9 笔 = 12 笔（说文新附：塔，从土荅聲）
Memory aid
Earth (土) on the left, 荅 on the right. Both parts are really in this character — picture earth and bricks piled up, layer on layer, into a tall tower.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 宝塔bǎo tǎpagoda塔 = tǎspoken asbáo tǎ
- 灯塔dēng tǎlighthouse塔 = tǎ
- 金字塔jīn zì tǎpyramid塔 = tǎ
Go deeper
All readings
tower; pagoda
tower; pagoda; tall slender structure
佛教的塔，也泛指高而尖的建筑物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 宝塔bǎo tǎpagoda塔 = tǎspoken asbáo tǎ
- 灯塔dēng tǎlighthouse塔 = tǎ
- 金字塔jīn zì tǎpyramid塔 = tǎ
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 塔 mean?
塔 (tǎ) means tower; pagoda; tall slender structure.
How do you pronounce 塔?
It is pronounced tǎ.
What parts is 塔 made of?
土 (earth; soil) and 荅 (small bean (old form, also an old form of 答)), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 现代字形拆分 ⿰土荅；与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：土 3 笔 + 荅 9 笔 = 12 笔（说文新附：塔，从土荅聲）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 塔 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 塔?
土. 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 塔?
Common ones are 宝塔, 灯塔, 金字塔. The reading of 塔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.