金 (jīn) is a Chinese character meaning “gold”. It is written from 人 (person) and 王 (king) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇔ (dot stroke), and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “gold; metal”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
人 + 王 + ㇔ + ㇔
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+91D1; modern glyph decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-2 form 人 on top; strokes 3,4,5,8 are 横横竖横 and form a complete 王; strokes 6-7 are two 点 ㇔ set inside it). Modern shape only — not a claim about historical formation.
Memory aid
A person (人) standing over a king (王), with two grains (㇔) tucked inside the king’s frame. What does a person guard for a king? 金 — gold.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 现金xiàn jīncash金 = jīn
- 金鱼jīn yúgoldfish金 = jīn
- 佣金yòng jīncommission; brokerage fee金 = jīn
- 冶金yě jīnmetallurgy; metal smelting金 = jīn
- 押金yā jīndeposit (refundable)金 = jīn
- 奖金jiǎng jīnbonus; prize money金 = jīn
- 租金zū jīnrent (money)金 = jīn
- 金字塔jīn zì tǎpyramid金 = jīn
- 铝合金lǚ hé jīnaluminium alloy金 = jīn
Go deeper
All readings
gold; metal
gold; metal; money; (as a surname) Jin
金属的总称，特指黄金；也引申指钱财。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 现金xiàn jīncash金 = jīn
- 金鱼jīn yúgoldfish金 = jīn
- 佣金yòng jīncommission; brokerage fee金 = jīn
- 冶金yě jīnmetallurgy; metal smelting金 = jīn
- 押金yā jīndeposit (refundable)金 = jīn
- 奖金jiǎng jīnbonus; prize money金 = jīn
- 租金zū jīnrent (money)金 = jīn
- 金字塔jīn zì tǎpyramid金 = jīn
- 铝合金lǚ hé jīnaluminium alloy金 = jīn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 金 mean?
金 (jīn) means gold; metal; money; (as a surname) Jin.
How do you pronounce 金?
It is pronounced jīn.
What parts is 金 made of?
人 (person) and 王 (king) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇔ (dot stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+91D1; modern glyph decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-2 form 人 on top; strokes 3,4,5,8 are 横横竖横 and form a complete 王; strokes 6-7 are two 点 ㇔ set inside it). Modern shape only — not a claim about historical formation.. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 金 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 金?
金. 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 金?
Common ones are 现金 and 金鱼. The reading of 金 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.