里 (lǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “inside”. It is written from 田 (field; farmland) and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “inside”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
田 + 土
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字·里部（里，凥也。从田从土）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：全字 7 画，田 5 画与 土 3 画共用中间一竖
Memory aid
A field (田) resting on the earth (土). Fields plus the ground under them make the piece of land people live on — and the old distance between one such settlement and the next.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 公里gōng lǐkilometer里 = lǐ
- 里边lǐ bianinside; in there里 = lǐ
- 这里zhè lǐhere; this place里 = lǐ
- 邻里lín lǐneighbourhood; the neighbours里 = lǐHSK 6
- 千里迢迢qiān lǐ tiáo tiáofrom a thousand li away; all the way from a distant place里 = lǐ
- 千里驹qiān lǐ jūa swift horse that runs a thousand li; a highly gifted young person里 = lǐ
- 哪里nǎ lǐwhere; which place里 = lǐspoken asná lǐHSK 1
- 夜里yè lǐduring the night; at night里 = lǐspoken asyè li
Go deeper
All readings
inside; li (unit of distance)
inside; in; the inner part of something; also a traditional Chinese unit of distance (about 500 metres)
内部；与「外」相对。也用作长度单位，一里合五百米。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 公里gōng lǐkilometer里 = lǐ
- 里边lǐ bianinside; in there里 = lǐ
- 这里zhè lǐhere; this place里 = lǐ
- 邻里lín lǐneighbourhood; the neighbours里 = lǐHSK 6
- 千里迢迢qiān lǐ tiáo tiáofrom a thousand li away; all the way from a distant place里 = lǐ
- 千里驹qiān lǐ jūa swift horse that runs a thousand li; a highly gifted young person里 = lǐ
- 哪里nǎ lǐwhere; which place里 = lǐspoken asná lǐHSK 1
- 夜里yè lǐduring the night; at night里 = lǐspoken asyè li
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 里 mean?
里 (lǐ) means inside; in; the inner part of something; also a traditional Chinese unit of distance (about 500 metres).
How do you pronounce 里?
It is pronounced lǐ.
What parts is 里 made of?
田 (field; farmland) and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字·里部（里，凥也。从田从土）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：全字 7 画，田 5 画与 土 3 画共用中间一竖. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 里 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 里?
里. 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 里?
Common ones are 公里 and 里边. The reading of 里 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.