幽 (yōu) is a Chinese character meaning “secluded and quiet”. It is written from 山 (mountain) and 幺 (tiny; a small coil of silk) and 幺 (tiny; a small coil of silk), one enclosing the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “secluded, dim”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
山 + 幺 + 幺
Enclosing structure
- 山 mountain · shān unknown
- 幺 tiny; a small coil of silk · yāo unknown
- 幺 tiny; a small coil of silk · yāo unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+5E7D, Kangxi radical 52 (幺), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1–3 and 4–6 form two 幺 side by side; strokes 0, 7, 8 form the enclosing 山)
Memory aid
Two thin silk threads 幺 幺 tucked deep inside a mountain 山 — so small and so far in that you can barely see them. All three parts are really in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 幽灵yōu língghost; spectre; phantom幽 = yōu
Go deeper
All readings
secluded; dim
secluded and quiet; dim, faint; hidden away; of the unseen world
隐蔽不显；深远而寂静；光线昏暗。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 幽灵yōu língghost; spectre; phantom幽 = yōu
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 幽 mean?
幽 (yōu) means secluded and quiet; dim, faint; hidden away; of the unseen world.
How do you pronounce 幽?
It is pronounced yōu.
What parts is 幽 made of?
山 (mountain) and 幺 (tiny; a small coil of silk) and 幺 (tiny; a small coil of silk), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5E7D, Kangxi radical 52 (幺), and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1–3 and 4–6 form two 幺 side by side; strokes 0, 7, 8 form the enclosing 山). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 幽 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 幽?
幺. 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 幽?
Common ones are 幽灵. The reading of 幽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.