栅 (zhà) is a Chinese character meaning “fence”. It is written from 木 (tree; wood) and 册 (bamboo slips bound together; a volume, a booklet), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “fence”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
木 + 册
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字：栅，編樹木也。从木从冊，冊亦聲
Memory aid
Wood (木) set beside a bundle of bound slips (册). Both parts are really in this character: upright slats tied together in a row — a fence.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 栅栏zhà lánfence; railing栅 = zhà
Go deeper
All readings
fence
fence; railing; paling made of bars or slats
用木条、铁条等做成的阻拦用的东西。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 栅栏zhà lánfence; railing栅 = zhà
Rare readings, not taught: shān
Origin
Shuowen Jiezi analyses 栅 as "trees/timber woven together": the wood radical 木 gives the meaning, and 册 — bundled bamboo slips tied side by side — supplies the sound while also echoing the sense of parallel slats lashed into one piece.
Source: 说文解字：栅，編樹木也。从木从冊，冊亦聲
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 栅 mean?
栅 (zhà) means fence; railing; paling made of bars or slats.
How do you pronounce 栅?
It is pronounced zhà.
What parts is 栅 made of?
木 (tree; wood) and 册 (bamboo slips bound together; a volume, a booklet), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：栅，編樹木也。从木从冊，冊亦聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 栅 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 栅?
木. 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 栅?
Common ones are 栅栏. The reading of 栅 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.