山 (shān) is a Chinese character meaning “mountain”. It is written from 凵 (open box) and 丨 (vertical stroke), one enclosing the other, and takes 3 strokes.
Build the character for “mountain”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
凵 + 丨
Enclosing structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5C71; modern decomposition candidate ⿶凵丨 checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke data
Memory aid
A vertical line (丨) rises from the open shape (凵), making the middle peak of a mountain.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 高山gāo shānhigh mountain山 = shān
- 山水shān shuǐmountains and waters; landscape山 = shān
- 冰山bīng shāniceberg山 = shān
- 山冈shān gānglow hill; ridge of a hill山 = shān
- 山区shān qūmountainous area山 = shān
- 山坡shān pōhillside; mountain slope山 = shān
- 山岭shān lǐngmountain ridge; mountain range山 = shān
- 山岳shān yuèmountains; high mountain ranges山 = shān
- 山川shān chuānmountains and rivers山 = shān
- 山沟shān gōugully; ravine; remote mountain area山 = shān
- 山羊shān yánggoat山 = shān
- 山芋shān yùsweet potato山 = shān
- 山谷shān gǔvalley山 = shān
- 山顶shān dǐngmountain top; summit山 = shān
- 庐山lú shānMount Lu (in Jiangxi)山 = shān
- 江山jiāng shānrivers and mountains; the land of a country山 = shān
- 火山huǒ shānvolcano山 = shān
- 火山岩huǒ shān yánvolcanic rock山 = shān
- 爬山pá shānto climb a mountain; to go hiking山 = shān
- 山峦shān luánmountains; range of hills山 = shān
- 山峰shān fēngmountain peak山 = shān
- 山崖shān yácliff; mountain precipice山 = shān
- 山泉shān quánmountain spring山 = shān
- 山涧shān jiànmountain stream; ravine stream山 = shān
- 山洞shān dòngcave (in a mountain)山 = shān
- 山脉shān màimountain range山 = shān
- 峨眉山é méi shānMount Emei (a mountain in Sichuan)山 = shān
- 泰山Tài shānMount Tai (in Shandong)山 = shān
Go deeper
All readings
mountain
mountain; hill; something shaped like a mountain
地面上由土石形成的高起部分；也可指形状像山的事物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 高山gāo shānhigh mountain山 = shān
- 山水shān shuǐmountains and waters; landscape山 = shān
- 冰山bīng shāniceberg山 = shān
- 山冈shān gānglow hill; ridge of a hill山 = shān
- 山区shān qūmountainous area山 = shān
- 山坡shān pōhillside; mountain slope山 = shān
- 山岭shān lǐngmountain ridge; mountain range山 = shān
- 山岳shān yuèmountains; high mountain ranges山 = shān
- 山川shān chuānmountains and rivers山 = shān
- 山沟shān gōugully; ravine; remote mountain area山 = shān
- 山羊shān yánggoat山 = shān
- 山芋shān yùsweet potato山 = shān
- 山谷shān gǔvalley山 = shān
- 山顶shān dǐngmountain top; summit山 = shān
- 庐山lú shānMount Lu (in Jiangxi)山 = shān
- 江山jiāng shānrivers and mountains; the land of a country山 = shān
- 火山huǒ shānvolcano山 = shān
- 火山岩huǒ shān yánvolcanic rock山 = shān
- 爬山pá shānto climb a mountain; to go hiking山 = shān
- 山峦shān luánmountains; range of hills山 = shān
- 山峰shān fēngmountain peak山 = shān
- 山崖shān yácliff; mountain precipice山 = shān
- 山泉shān quánmountain spring山 = shān
- 山涧shān jiànmountain stream; ravine stream山 = shān
- 山洞shān dòngcave (in a mountain)山 = shān
- 山脉shān màimountain range山 = shān
- 峨眉山é méi shānMount Emei (a mountain in Sichuan)山 = shān
- 泰山Tài shānMount Tai (in Shandong)山 = shān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 山 mean?
山 (shān) means mountain; hill; something shaped like a mountain.
How do you pronounce 山?
It is pronounced shān.
What parts is 山 made of?
凵 (open box) and 丨 (vertical stroke), one enclosing the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5C71; modern decomposition candidate ⿶凵丨 checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke data. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 山 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 山?
山. 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 山?
Common ones are 高山 and 山水. The reading of 山 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.