彤 (tóng) is a Chinese character meaning “red”. It is written from 丹 (cinnabar; vermilion red) and 彡 (three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern)), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “red; vermilion”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丹 + 彡
Left–right structure
- 丹 cinnabar; vermilion red · dān meaning
- 彡 three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern) · shān meaning
Structure from: 《说文解字》：彤，丹飾也。从丹从彡，彡其畫也；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：7 画 = 丹 4 画 + 彡 3 画
Memory aid
Cinnabar pigment (丹) on the left, three brush strokes (彡) sweeping across on the right — the surface has been painted red.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 彤云tóng yúnred clouds at sunrise or sunset; also dark clouds before snow彤 = tóng
Go deeper
All readings
red; vermilion
red; vermilion — mostly literary, and very common in given names
红色；朱红色。多用于书面语，也常用作人名。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 彤云tóng yúnred clouds at sunrise or sunset; also dark clouds before snow彤 = tóng
Rare readings, not taught: tōng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 彤 mean?
彤 (tóng) means red; vermilion — mostly literary, and very common in given names.
How do you pronounce 彤?
It is pronounced tóng.
What parts is 彤 made of?
丹 (cinnabar; vermilion red) and 彡 (three slanting strokes (bristles, hair, light or pattern)), side by side. The recorded source is: 《说文解字》：彤，丹飾也。从丹从彡，彡其畫也；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 笔画核验：7 画 = 丹 4 画 + 彡 3 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 彤 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 彤?
彡. 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 彤?
Common ones are 彤云. The reading of 彤 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.