顺 (shùn) is a Chinese character meaning “to go along with”. It is written from 川 (river) and 页 (head; page, leaf (of a book)), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to follow along; smooth”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
川 + 页
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·頁部：順，理也。从頁从巛
Memory aid
A head (页) turned the same way the river (川) runs. Face downstream and nothing fights you — that is 顺: going along with it, smoothly.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 顺利shùn lìsmooth; without a hitch顺 = shùnHSK 4
- 顺序shùn xùorder; sequence顺 = shùn
Go deeper
All readings
to follow along; smooth
to go along with; to follow (a direction or an order); smooth; favourable; in sequence
沿着同一个方向；依照次序；进行得没有阻碍。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 顺利shùn lìsmooth; without a hitch顺 = shùnHSK 4
- 顺序shùn xùorder; sequence顺 = shùn
Origin
The Shuowen Jiezi analyses 順 as "from 頁 (head) and 巛 (a flowing stream)", glossing it as 理 — to put in order. The simplified form writes that stream as 川 and the head as 页.
Source: 说文解字·頁部：順，理也。从頁从巛
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 顺 mean?
顺 (shùn) means to go along with; to follow (a direction or an order); smooth; favourable; in sequence.
How do you pronounce 顺?
It is pronounced shùn.
What parts is 顺 made of?
川 (river) and 页 (head; page, leaf (of a book)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·頁部：順，理也。从頁从巛. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 顺 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 顺?
页. 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 顺?
Common ones are 顺利 and 顺序. The reading of 顺 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.