局 (jú) is a Chinese character meaning “office”. It is written from 尸 (corpse) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and 口 (mouth), one enclosing the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “bureau; office”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
尸 + ㇆ + 口
Enclosing structure
Structure from: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿸尸⿹㇆口，3+1+3=7 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源
Memory aid
尸 leans over from the top-left like the roof of a building. Under it, a single hooked stroke ㇆ walls off a small room, and inside that room sits 口, a mouth at a service window. A roof, a partitioned room, one window you speak into: that is a 局 — a bureau, an office.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 邮局yóu júpost office局 = jú
- 结局jié júending; outcome局 = jú
Go deeper
All readings
bureau; office
office; bureau; department; situation; a game or round (of chess, cards)
机关或企业中的一个部门，如邮局；也指整体形势或棋类比赛的一盘。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 邮局yóu júpost office局 = jú
- 结局jié júending; outcome局 = jú
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 局 mean?
局 (jú) means office; bureau; department; situation; a game or round (of chess, cards).
How do you pronounce 局?
It is pronounced jú.
What parts is 局 made of?
尸 (corpse) and ㇆ (horizontal-turning hook stroke) and 口 (mouth), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿸尸⿹㇆口，3+1+3=7 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 局 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 局?
尸. 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 局?
Common ones are 邮局 and 结局. The reading of 局 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.