江 (jiāng) is a Chinese character meaning “river”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 工 (work), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “river”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 工
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：6 画 = 氵 3 画 + 工 3 画；部首取康熙 85 水部；声符判断只依据实测现代读音（工 gōng / 江 jiāng 声母、韵母皆不同）
Memory aid
Water (氵) put to work (工): a river big enough to carry boats and cities. Both parts really are in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 长江cháng jiāngthe Yangtze River江 = jiāng
- 江山jiāng shānrivers and mountains; the land of a country江 = jiāng
- 江苏jiāng sūJiangsu (a province in eastern China)江 = jiāng
- 江浙jiāng zhèJiangsu and Zhejiang (the two provinces together)江 = jiāng
- 江淮jiāng huáithe Yangtze–Huai region江 = jiāng
- 浙江zhè jiāngZhejiang (a province in eastern China)江 = jiāng
- 黄浦江huáng pǔ jiāngHuangpu River (in Shanghai)江 = jiāng
Go deeper
All readings
river
river; (specifically) the Yangtze River
大的河流；特指长江。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 长江cháng jiāngthe Yangtze River江 = jiāng
- 江山jiāng shānrivers and mountains; the land of a country江 = jiāng
- 江苏jiāng sūJiangsu (a province in eastern China)江 = jiāng
- 江浙jiāng zhèJiangsu and Zhejiang (the two provinces together)江 = jiāng
- 江淮jiāng huáithe Yangtze–Huai region江 = jiāng
- 浙江zhè jiāngZhejiang (a province in eastern China)江 = jiāng
- 黄浦江huáng pǔ jiāngHuangpu River (in Shanghai)江 = jiāng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 江 mean?
江 (jiāng) means river; (specifically) the Yangtze River.
How do you pronounce 江?
It is pronounced jiāng.
What parts is 江 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 工 (work), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：6 画 = 氵 3 画 + 工 3 画；部首取康熙 85 水部；声符判断只依据实测现代读音（工 gōng / 江 jiāng 声母、韵母皆不同）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 江 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 江?
水. 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 江?
Common ones are 长江 and 江山. The reading of 江 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.