黄 (huáng) · yellow

Meanings

1 yellow

Characters

黄

huáng

yellow

Examples

HSK 3

她穿了一件黄色的裙子。

Tā chuān le yí jiàn huángsè de qúnzi.

She wore a yellow dress.

HSK 4

黄河是中国的母亲河。

Huánghé shì Zhōngguó de mǔqīn hé.

The Yellow River is China's Mother River.

HSK 7-9

秋天树叶变黄了。

Qiūtiān shùyè biàn huáng le.

Leaves turn yellow in autumn.

Tips

culture

Yellow is historically the color of Chinese emperors and royalty. The Yellow River (黄河) and Yellow Emperor (黄帝) are central to Chinese civilization.

history

黄 is one of the most common Chinese surnames. The legendary 黄帝 (Yellow Emperor) is considered the ancestor of the Chinese people.

Components

pictograph

黄 huáng

yellow

Eleven-stroke 黄 is itself a Kangxi radical and not further decomposable. The oracle-bone graph depicts a person wearing a large jade pei-pendant or a ceremonial belt-ornament - the colour name 'yellow' derived from the colour of jade and ritual fire. Fundamental in cultural terms: the Yellow Emperor (黄帝), the Yellow River (黄河), and the imperial colour from Tang times onward.

Radical

Yellow Kangxi #201

A color radical that, despite anchoring an emperor's color, is barely productive in modern Chinese, and almost no common compounds use 黄 as the indexing radical. Its weight comes from 黄 itself: 黄河 (Yellow River), 黄帝 (Yellow Emperor), 黄金 (gold), 黄昏 (dusk). Originally a pictograph of a jade pendant worn at the waist.