Zhū
proper noun #20,913

Meanings

  1. 1 Zhu (surname)
  2. 2 name of a river (in Shandong province)

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zhū shuǐ shì Kǒngzǐ gùxiāng fùjìn de yī tiáo héliú.
The Zhu River is a waterway near Confucius's hometown.
HSK 7-9
Zhū yě shì yī gè bù chángjiàn de xìngshì.
Zhu is also an uncommon surname.

Tips

culture
洙水 (Zhu River) and 泗水 (Si River) flow near 曲阜 in Shandong, the birthplace of Confucius. The phrase 洙泗之间 historically refers to Confucius and his school of thought, giving this character classical and literary weight.

Components

radical
shuǐ
water (radical form of 水)
Three-drops water radical on the left, side-form of . The indexing radical, marking as a hydronym - the Zhu River in Shandong, the small stream beside which Confucius taught. The pair 洙泗 (Zhu and Si rivers) became a literary shorthand for the Confucian school itself. Same water-family: river, large river, lake.
phonetic
zhū
vermilion; red
Right side supplies the sound exactly: zhū with identical pinyin and tone. originally pictured a tree trunk with a horizontal mark - the red heartwood, giving 'cinnabar red'. Same phonetic family: trunk, pearl, spider. is also a major surname, lending added classical flavour.

Stroke Order

Zhū