昔 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “former times”. It is written from 龷 (four-stroke top element: two uprights crossed by a short bar, closed by a long bar below (as in 昔, 共)) and 日 (sun; day), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “former times; the past”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
龷 + 日
Top–bottom structure
- 龷 four-stroke top element: two uprights crossed by a short bar, closed by a long bar below (as in 昔, 共) unknown
- 日 sun; day · rì unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上部四笔 龷 + 下部四笔 日)
Memory aid
A sun (日) parked at the bottom, with 龷 stacked on top of it like layers of days piled up above — the days that are already over. 昔 is what came before.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 昔日xī rìformer days; in the past昔 = xī
- 今昔jīn xīthe present and the past昔 = xī
Go deeper
All readings
former times; the past
former times; the past; bygone days — mostly used in written compounds
从前；过去的时候。多用于书面词语。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 昔日xī rìformer days; in the past昔 = xī
- 今昔jīn xīthe present and the past昔 = xī
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 昔 mean?
昔 (xī) means former times; the past; bygone days — mostly used in written compounds.
How do you pronounce 昔?
It is pronounced xī.
What parts is 昔 made of?
龷 (four-stroke top element: two uprights crossed by a short bar, closed by a long bar below (as in 昔, 共)) and 日 (sun; day), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (上部四笔 龷 + 下部四笔 日). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 昔 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 昔?
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 昔?
Common ones are 昔日 and 今昔. The reading of 昔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.