卤 (lǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “brine”. It is written from 卜 (divination) and 囗 (enclosure, surrounding frame) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “brine”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
卜 + 囗 + 乂
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（现代字形拆分：卜 2 笔 + 囗 3 笔 + 乂 2 笔 = 7 笔逐笔对应）
Memory aid
A sealed vat: the frame 囗 is the tub, the 乂 crossed inside is the salt crust drying at the bottom, and 卜 pokes out on top like the ladle left standing in the brine.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 卤肉lǔ ròubraised meat stewed in soy sauce and spices卤 = lǔ
- 卤水lǔ shuǐbrine; the spiced stock used for braising卤 = lǔspoken aslú shuǐ
Go deeper
All readings
brine; braised in soy sauce
brine; bittern; to stew food slowly in soy sauce and spices; the thick savoury sauce this produces
盐卤；用酱油和香料慢煮食物的做法，也指这样煮出的浓汁。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 卤肉lǔ ròubraised meat stewed in soy sauce and spices卤 = lǔ
- 卤水lǔ shuǐbrine; the spiced stock used for braising卤 = lǔspoken aslú shuǐ
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 卤 mean?
卤 (lǔ) means brine; bittern; to stew food slowly in soy sauce and spices; the thick savoury sauce this produces.
How do you pronounce 卤?
It is pronounced lǔ.
What parts is 卤 made of?
卜 (divination) and 囗 (enclosure, surrounding frame) and 乂 (crossing strokes), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（现代字形拆分：卜 2 笔 + 囗 3 笔 + 乂 2 笔 = 7 笔逐笔对应）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 卤 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 卤?
卤. 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 卤?
Common ones are 卤肉 and 卤水. The reading of 卤 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.