鸿 (hóng) is a Chinese character meaning “wild swan or swan goose”. It is written from 江 (river) and 鸟 (bird), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “wild swan; vast”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
江 + 鸟
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 鸿，鸿鹄也。从鸟江声
Memory aid
A big bird (鸟) flying over a wide river (江) — the wild swan, a bird of vast waters.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 鸿沟hóng gōuwide gap; chasm; gulf (between people or ideas)鸿 = hóng
- 鸿雁hóng yànswan goose; wild goose (also a literary image for letters)鸿 = hóng
Go deeper
All readings
wild swan; vast
wild swan or swan goose; vast, grand
大雁一类的鸟；引申为大、宏大。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 鸿沟hóng gōuwide gap; chasm; gulf (between people or ideas)鸿 = hóng
- 鸿雁hóng yànswan goose; wild goose (also a literary image for letters)鸿 = hóng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 鸿 mean?
鸿 (hóng) means wild swan or swan goose; vast, grand.
How do you pronounce 鸿?
It is pronounced hóng.
What parts is 鸿 made of?
江 (river) and 鸟 (bird), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 鸿，鸿鹄也。从鸟江声. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 鸿 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 鸿?
鸟. 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 鸿?
Common ones are 鸿沟 and 鸿雁. The reading of 鸿 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.