梁 (liáng) is a Chinese character meaning “roof beam”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 刅 (to wound (刃 blade with an extra dot)) and 木 (tree; wood), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “beam; bridge”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 刅 + 木
Top–bottom structure
- 氵 water (left-side form) · shuǐ meaning
- 刅 to wound (刃 blade with an extra dot) · chuāng sound
- 木 tree; wood · mù meaning
Structure from: 说文解字: 梁，水桥也。从木从水，刅声
Memory aid
Over the water (氵), a blade (刅) cuts timber (木) into a long beam — lay it across the stream and you have a bridge.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 桥梁qiáo liángbridge (general term)梁 = liáng
- 栋梁dòng liángridgepole and beams; pillar of the state梁 = liáng
Go deeper
All readings
beam; bridge
roof beam; bridge; ridge (of the nose, a hill); a surname
房屋中架在柱子上承托屋顶的横木；桥；物体中间隆起的部分；姓。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 桥梁qiáo liángbridge (general term)梁 = liáng
- 栋梁dòng liángridgepole and beams; pillar of the state梁 = liáng
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 梁 mean?
梁 (liáng) means roof beam; bridge; ridge (of the nose, a hill); a surname.
How do you pronounce 梁?
It is pronounced liáng.
What parts is 梁 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 刅 (to wound (刃 blade with an extra dot)) and 木 (tree; wood), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 梁，水桥也。从木从水，刅声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 梁 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 梁?
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 梁?
Common ones are 桥梁 and 栋梁. The reading of 梁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.