尧 (yáo) is a Chinese character meaning “Yao, a legendary sage ruler of high antiquity”. It is written from ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇂ (slanted hook stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 兀 (high and level; bare), one above the other, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “Yao, the legendary sage ruler”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇐ + ㇂ + ㇒ + 兀
Top–bottom structure
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇂ slanted hook stroke unknown
- ㇒ left-falling stroke unknown
- 兀 high and level; bare · wù unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+5C27; modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (横 / 斜钩 / 撇 crossing above 兀). The top group has no standalone character, so it stays as three real strokes.
Memory aid
兀 stands below like a tall, bare platform. Above it a flat ㇐, a long sweeping ㇂ and a falling ㇒ cross into a crown — Yáo is the ancient ruler raised above everyone.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 尧舜yáo shùnYao and Shun, the two legendary sage rulers of ancient China尧 = yáo
Go deeper
All readings
Yao, a legendary sage ruler
Yao, a legendary sage ruler of high antiquity; also common in personal names
传说中上古的贤明君主；也常用于人名。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 尧舜yáo shùnYao and Shun, the two legendary sage rulers of ancient China尧 = yáo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 尧 mean?
尧 (yáo) means Yao, a legendary sage ruler of high antiquity; also common in personal names.
How do you pronounce 尧?
It is pronounced yáo.
What parts is 尧 made of?
㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇂ (slanted hook stroke) and ㇒ (left-falling stroke) and 兀 (high and level; bare), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5C27; modern glyph split checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 (横 / 斜钩 / 撇 crossing above 兀). The top group has no standalone character, so it stays as three real strokes.. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 尧 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What words use 尧?
Common ones are 尧舜. The reading of 尧 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.