书

书 · shū

book, letter, document; writings

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

book, letter, document; writings

Mandarin
shū
Cantonese
syu1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+4E66
Radical
乙 · 5
Strokes
4 · Unihan
Residual
3

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

4 strokes
书
Strokes
4
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

4 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿺⿻⿱𠃍𠃌丨丶(G)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 书

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

History & distinctions

Related forms

書

Unihan traditional/simplified variant properties. Conversion may depend on context.

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
shū
kCantonese
syu1
kDefinition
book, letter, document; writings
kTotalStrokes
4
kRSUnicode
5.3 2.3
kTraditionalVariant
U+66F8
kTGH
2013:188

Readings across dictionaries

Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 书 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
365dictionary records using 书0forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿺ Lower-left enclosure
⿻ Overlaid
⿱ Above / below

Shape description
((𠃍 above 𠃌) overlaps 丨) wraps around 丶 from the lower left · the shape used in China
Source notation ^⿺⿻⿱𠃍𠃌丨丶$(G)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 365 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿺⿻⿱𠃍𠃌丨丶$(G)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.