良 (liáng) is a Chinese character meaning “good”. It is written from 丶 (dot stroke) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “good; fine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
丶 + 艮
Top–bottom structure
- 丶 dot stroke · zhǔ unknown
- 艮 gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn" · gèn unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：良 7 笔 = 首笔点 + 其余 6 笔与「艮」逐笔对应（现代字形拆分，非字源）
Memory aid
One small dot (丶) settles on top of 艮. Just one thing added — and the whole character turns out fine: 良 means good.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 良好liáng hǎogood; fine; in good condition良 = liángHSK 4
- 善良shàn liángkind-hearted; good-natured良 = liángHSK 4
Go deeper
All readings
good; fine
good; fine; of high quality; kind-hearted
好的；品质高的；心地善良的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 良好liáng hǎogood; fine; in good condition良 = liángHSK 4
- 善良shàn liángkind-hearted; good-natured良 = liángHSK 4
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 良 mean?
良 (liáng) means good; fine; of high quality; kind-hearted.
How do you pronounce 良?
It is pronounced liáng.
What parts is 良 made of?
丶 (dot stroke) and 艮 (gèn — Kangxi radical 138; the trigram for mountain, also "stubborn"), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：良 7 笔 = 首笔点 + 其余 6 笔与「艮」逐笔对应（现代字形拆分，非字源）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 良 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 良?
艮. 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 良?
Common ones are 良好 and 善良. The reading of 良 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.