济 (jì) is a Chinese character meaning “to help”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 齐 (even; neat; all together), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to aid; to cross a river”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 齐
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·水部（濟，水。出常山房子贊皇山，東入泜。从水齊聲）；简化字形 济 = 氵 + 齐，以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：9 画 = 氵 3 画 + 齐 6 画
Memory aid
Water (氵) on the left, and on the right everyone lined up even (齐) to cross it together — helping each other over.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 经济jīng jìeconomy; economic济 = jìHSK 4
Go deeper
All readings
to aid; to cross a river
to help; to relieve; to benefit; to cross a river
帮助、救助；使有益处；也指渡过河水。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 经济jīng jìeconomy; economic济 = jìHSK 4
Rare readings, not taught: jǐ
Sound component
齐 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 济 mean?
济 (jì) means to help; to relieve; to benefit; to cross a river.
How do you pronounce 济?
It is pronounced jì.
What parts is 济 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 齐 (even; neat; all together), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·水部（濟，水。出常山房子贊皇山，東入泜。从水齊聲）；简化字形 济 = 氵 + 齐，以 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 核验：9 画 = 氵 3 画 + 齐 6 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 济 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 济?
水. 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 济?
Common ones are 经济. The reading of 济 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.