邪 (xié) is a Chinese character meaning “evil”. It is written from 牙 (tooth) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “evil”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
牙 + 阝
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+90AA 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形核验（左「牙」4 笔 + 右「阝」2 笔 = 6 笔）
Memory aid
A bared tooth (牙) on the left, a city wall (阝) on the right. Picture a town that shows its fangs to strangers — nothing straight goes on there. That is 邪: crooked, evil.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 邪恶xié èevil; wicked邪 = xié
- 邪气xié qìunhealthy trend; evil influence邪 = xié
Go deeper
All readings
evil
evil; wicked; crooked; heretical; irregular
不正当的、不正派的；邪恶。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 邪恶xié èevil; wicked邪 = xié
- 邪气xié qìunhealthy trend; evil influence邪 = xié
Rare readings, not taught: yé
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 邪 mean?
邪 (xié) means evil; wicked; crooked; heretical; irregular.
How do you pronounce 邪?
It is pronounced xié.
What parts is 邪 made of?
牙 (tooth) and 阝 (left form: mound (阜); right form: city or settlement (邑)), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+90AA 与 hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 现代字形核验（左「牙」4 笔 + 右「阝」2 笔 = 6 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 邪 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 邪?
邑. 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 邪?
Common ones are 邪恶 and 邪气. The reading of 邪 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.