字Study Chinese Characters
明

míng bright; clear

8 strokes

明 (míng) is a Chinese character meaning “bright”. It is written from 日 (sun; day) and 月 (moon; month), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.

Build the character for “bright”

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Learn this character

Structure

日 + 月

Left–right structure

  • 日 sun; day · rì meaning
  • 月 moon; month · yuè meaning

Structure from: IDS ⿰日月 (Unicode 表意文字描述序列)，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数 4+4=8 核验一致

Memory aid

The sun (日) on the left, the moon (月) on the right — the two brightest things in the sky, side by side. Together: bright, clear.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

8 strokes

In real words

  • 明天míng tiāntomorrow明 = míng
  • 证明zhèng míngto prove; proof; certificate明 = míng
  • 明矾míng fánalum (potassium aluminium sulfate)明 = míng
  • 明亮míng liàngbright; well-lit明 = míng
  • 明星míng xīngstar; celebrity明 = míng
  • 明显míng xiǎnobvious; clear; evident明 = míngHSK 3
  • 透明tòu míngtransparent; see-through明 = míng
  • 阐明chǎn míngto clarify; to make clear明 = míng
Go deeper

All readings

míng main reading

bright; clear

bright; light; clear; to understand; next (of day or year)

光亮；清楚、明白；也指时间上的下一个（明天、明年）。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 明天míng tiāntomorrow明 = míng
  • 证明zhèng míngto prove; proof; certificate明 = míng
  • 明矾míng fánalum (potassium aluminium sulfate)明 = míng
  • 明亮míng liàngbright; well-lit明 = míng
  • 明星míng xīngstar; celebrity明 = míng
  • 明显míng xiǎnobvious; clear; evident明 = míngHSK 3
  • 透明tòu míngtransparent; see-through明 = míng
  • 阐明chǎn míngto clarify; to make clear明 = míng

Other characters with these parts

日 → 旦旧旨早旬旭旱时

月 → 有用甩肋肌肘肖肚

Easy to confuse with

朋昨

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 明 mean?

明 (míng) means bright; light; clear; to understand; next (of day or year).

How do you pronounce 明?

It is pronounced míng.

What parts is 明 made of?

日 (sun; day) and 月 (moon; month), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰日月 (Unicode 表意文字描述序列)，与 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数 4+4=8 核验一致. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 明 have?

8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 明?

日. 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 明?

Common ones are 明天 and 证明. The reading of 明 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.