苑 (yuàn) is a Chinese character meaning “an enclosed garden or park where plants and animals are kept”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 夗 (sound component in 苑 / 宛 (yuàn / wǎn)), one above the other, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “garden; park”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 夗
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 苑，所以養禽獸也。从艸夗聲；现代字形拆分 ⿱艹夗（夗 = ⿰夕㔾），按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（艹3 + 夗5 = 苑8）
Memory aid
Plants (艹) growing over 夗, the part that carries the sound — a walled garden where greenery and animals are kept.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 文苑wén yuànliterary circles; a collection of literary works苑 = yuàn
- 艺苑yì yuànthe world of art; art circles苑 = yuàn
Go deeper
All readings
garden; park
an enclosed garden or park where plants and animals are kept; by extension, a place where people or works of one kind gather
养育禽兽、种植林木的园子；引申指某一类人或作品聚集的地方。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 文苑wén yuànliterary circles; a collection of literary works苑 = yuàn
- 艺苑yì yuànthe world of art; art circles苑 = yuàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 苑 mean?
苑 (yuàn) means an enclosed garden or park where plants and animals are kept; by extension, a place where people or works of one kind gather.
How do you pronounce 苑?
It is pronounced yuàn.
What parts is 苑 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 夗 (sound component in 苑 / 宛 (yuàn / wǎn)), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 苑，所以養禽獸也。从艸夗聲；现代字形拆分 ⿱艹夗（夗 = ⿰夕㔾），按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（艹3 + 夗5 = 苑8）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 苑 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 苑?
艹. 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 苑?
Common ones are 文苑 and 艺苑. The reading of 苑 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.