Meanings & readings
Meanings & dictionary uses
3 senses · 6 wordsQueen, empress, or an established royal title. These words retain 后 in both simplified and traditional writing.
A name element in 后羿, the mythological archer Houyi. The name retains 后 when written traditionally.
After, later, or behind when 后 is the simplified counterpart of 後. This sense belongs to a distinct form relationship and historical dossier.
Languages & readings
Choose a recorded reading. Explore other varieties through their reference sources below.
Mandarin
Sense-linked readingsReadings & meanings
- hòu — Queen, empress, or an established royal title. These words retain 后 in both simplified and traditional writing.
- hòu — A name element in 后羿, the mythological archer Houyi. The name retains 后 when written traditionally.
- hòu — After, later, or behind when 后 is the simplified counterpart of 後. This sense belongs to a distinct form relationship and historical dossier.
Usage scope
Regional and word-specific qualifications remain attached to the sense and vocabulary records.
Cantonese
Selected character readingSource & reading limitations
Jyutping · Unihan 17.0.0
This property supplies a customary character reading for collation and transliteration. It does not list every reading or identify the reading for each word and sense. It also does not encode a separate regional label for each value.
Other Chinese languages & varieties
Reference guides · character readings not yet imported.
Taiwanese Hokkien 臺灣台語Reference sources only
The Ministry of Education dictionary is the reference for Taiwanese vocabulary and readings. Its Tâi-lô guide distinguishes citation tones from changes in connected speech. Other Hokkien varieties require their own sources.
- Reference variety
- Taiwanese Hokkien, with the regional distinctions recorded by Taiwan's Ministry of Education
- Notation
- Tâi-lô (臺羅), as used by the linked MOE dictionary
Hakka 客語Reference sources only
Taiwan's Ministry of Education documents six Hakka varieties separately. Choose the variety before comparing readings; a single undifferentiated Hakka pronunciation would hide meaningful differences.
- Reference variety
- Taiwan: Sixian, Hailu, Dapu, Raoping, Zhao'an and Southern Sixian
- Notation
- Taiwan Hakka Romanization System (臺灣客語拼音方案)
Teochew 潮州話／潮汕話Reference sources only
Explore CUHK's published Chaozhou lexicon and its separate Shantou sound table. These reference locations remain explicit: readings from one locality should not stand in for every Teochew variety.
- Reference variety
- Chaozhou lexicon; separate Shantou syllable-table resource
- Notation
- Source phonetic transcription; no shared local romanization imported
Wu 吳語・上海話Reference sources only
The linked university resource documents Shanghai. Wu also includes other local varieties; Shanghai readings should retain that location label when compared with Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Reference variety
- Shanghai
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Eastern Min 閩東語・福州話Reference sources only
Fuzhou is an Eastern Min reference variety. Its dedicated CUHK sound table offers a starting point; other Eastern Min localities need distinct records and source attribution.
- Reference variety
- Fuzhou
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Gan 贛語・南昌話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Nanchang sound table. The broader Gan group contains local differences, so future readings should identify Nanchang or another documented locality explicitly.
- Reference variety
- Nanchang
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Xiang 湘語・長沙話Reference sources only
Begin with CUHK's Changsha sound table. Keep Changsha separate from other Xiang localities when adding readings; the group name does not denote one uniform pronunciation.
- Reference variety
- Changsha
- Notation
- Phonetic transcription and tone values in the linked CUHK table
Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese
Readings recorded for 后 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.
Japanese 日本語
Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.
On’yomi · katakana
Kun’yomi · hiragana
Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.
Go deeperJisho ↗Wiktionary ↗
Korean 한국어
Hanja readings · Hangul
Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.
Go deeperNaver Hanja ↗Wiktionary ↗
Reading sources explained
- 후
- KS X 1001 (0) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
Character readings · Quốc ngữ
Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.
Go deeperHán Việt (Thi Viện) ↗Wiktionary ↗
Form & structure
Structure & components
3 direct parts- Layout
- complex
- Index radical
- 口 · 30 · 3 residual strokes
The modern shape contains an upper sloping part, a horizontal stroke, and 口 below. This visual decomposition does not explain its relationship to 後, which is a context-dependent writing-system mapping. The radical used for indexing 后 is also separate from the question of how the earliest forms were interpreted.
Follow the recorded parts
- recorded boundary
- recorded boundary
- recorded boundary
A boundary means no finer analysis is published here; it does not assert an indivisible unit. Radical classification and component structure are separate.
Inspect the component network ↗Writing
6 strokesModern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. [47]
Words & connections
Examples
2 sentences皇后住在宮中。
皇后住在宫中。
The empress lives in the palace.
我們吃完飯以後再走。
我们吃完饭以后再走。
We will leave after we finish eating.
Original editorial sentences. Pinyin uses dictionary tones; connected speech may differ.
Connections
0 phonetic neighboursThis pilot does not link this character to a sound (phonetic) family. Explore the other recorded relationships below.
Follow this component
Sentence context · 1 matches
我们先吃饭，然后再走。
Source, contributors & licenses
Mandarin: Tatoeba #400336 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · Text editors: GlossaMatik · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: GlossaMatik
English: Tatoeba #400331 · Original contributor: FeuDRenais · CC BY 2.0 FR · Attribution log · Current owner: CM
Source text unchanged. Original contributor and text editors are credited from the source log, separately from the current owner.
History & distinctions
Etymology & evidence
2 accountsA sovereign, not a shortened after
CUHK gives sovereign as the basic sense and discusses bronze forms in which orientation distinguishes 后 from 司. It attributes to Tang Lan and Li Xiaoding the view that their earlier forms were not distinct in the same way. That account should not be collapsed into the later simplified mapping from 後.
Limits of a traditional explanation
The entry quotes the Shuowen’s explanation involving a ruler issuing commands. This is a historical lexicographer’s account, reported through CUHK, rather than a direct observation of the graph’s invention.
Reading this character · explanatory note
后 has an independent history and is not merely a shortened 後. In both standard writing systems, 皇后 means empress and 王后 means queen. Simplified writing also uses 后 for the after or behind senses written 後 in traditional text: 以後 becomes 以后. A conversion must therefore inspect the word and meaning. 皇后 should never become 皇後. CUHK discusses an early sovereign sense for 后 and questions how its ancient forms should be distinguished from 司. That dossier is separate from the historical account attached to 後.
Historical specimens remain at their sources. No dated attestation sequence or licensed specimen image is claimed.
Inspect CUHK’s forms and discussion ↗Forms & distinctions
The relation is conditional: traditional 皇后 → simplified 皇后; traditional 以後 → simplified 以后. Reversing every 后 to 後 would corrupt words such as 皇后 and proper names such as 后羿. The relationship to 後 applies to after and behind senses in simplified writing; it does not apply to all uses of 后.
後 is used for after, behind, and later in traditional writing. 后 retains its independent royal and name uses. A shared simplified spelling does not establish a shared origin.
司 sī is a distinct modern character. CUHK discusses their relationship in early forms; modern readers must still distinguish their present shapes and uses.
Historical readings
- Middle Chinese
- huwX · 胡口 反切 · #1955
- Middle Chinese
- huwH · 胡遘 反切 · #3061
Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.
Source row & reading categories
CSV line 12122 · huwX = 流開一上侯匣 · huwH = 流開一去侯匣
Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗
Sources & reference
Sources & research
4 sourcesLocator & rights
形義通解, 略說 and 詳解; character entry · link_only · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
Release 2026-10-12T08:13:53Z. Exact word-reading locators are retained with each WordRecord. · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
17.0.0 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Locator & rights
bddc96d41bef78427ed0e034e9f7e31d71fd1b92 · permitted · 2026-10-12
Open research · 2 items
- Early identifications are summarized from CUHK only; cited specialist publications have not been independently read.
- Historical specimen images and their item-level dating have not been licensed or independently checked; follow the source link to inspect its evidence.
Cited claims compared with the consulted entries; no independent expert review recorded.
Readings across dictionaries
- Hanyu Da Zidian
- hòu 10580.010
- Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
- hòu 0468.010
- Tongyong Guifan · 2013
- hòu 139.070,139.080
- Reading counts · XDHYPLCD
- hòu(4342)
- Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
- hòu粵hau6
Reference desk
- Fanqie spellings
- 胡口 胡遘
- Kangxi positions
- 0176.010
- Guangyun positions
- 325.15 437.34
- GSR references
- 0112a
- Cangjie
- HMR
- Four-corner
- 7226.1