狮 (shī) is a Chinese character meaning “lion”. It is written from 犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 师 (master; teacher), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “lion”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
犭 + 师
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 构形核对（现代字形 ⿰犭师，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画）
Memory aid
The beast radical 犭 on the left says this is an animal; 师 on the right is only there for the sound — shī. An animal read shī: the lion.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 狮子shī zǐlion狮 = shīspoken asshī zi
Questions people ask about this character
What does 狮 mean?
狮 (shī) means lion.
How do you pronounce 狮?
It is pronounced shī.
What parts is 狮 made of?
犭 (dog / beast radical (side form of 犬)) and 师 (master; teacher), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 构形核对（现代字形 ⿰犭师，已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 狮 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 狮?
犬. 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 狮?
Common ones are 狮子. The reading of 狮 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.