党 (dǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “political party”. It is written from ⺌ (three short strokes fanning out at the top of a character) and 冖 (cover) and 兄 (elder brother), and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “party”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
⺌ + 冖 + 兄
Top–middle–bottom structure
- ⺌ three short strokes fanning out at the top of a character unknown
- 冖 cover · mì unknown
- 兄 elder brother · xiōng unknown
Structure from: 现代字形拆分：hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（0–2 ⺌，3–4 冖，5–9 兄）
Memory aid
Three sparks (⺌) above a roof (冖), and under the roof an elder brother (兄) calling everyone together — a group that meets under one roof is a party.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 政党zhèng dǎngpolitical party党 = dǎng
- 党员dǎng yuánparty member党 = dǎng
Go deeper
All readings
party; faction
political party; faction; clique
政党；也指因利害关系结成的集团。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 政党zhèng dǎngpolitical party党 = dǎng
- 党员dǎng yuánparty member党 = dǎng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 党 mean?
党 (dǎng) means political party; faction; clique.
How do you pronounce 党?
It is pronounced dǎng.
What parts is 党 made of?
⺌ (three short strokes fanning out at the top of a character) and 冖 (cover) and 兄 (elder brother). The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分：hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（0–2 ⺌，3–4 冖，5–9 兄）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 党 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 党?
儿. 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 党?
Common ones are 政党 and 党员. The reading of 党 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.