土 (tǔ) as a key Building block for Chinese Characters

13 03 2024

“土 (tǔ): meaning earth” is one of the 50 powerful Chinese radicals used in creating over 65% of Chinese common characters. This radical means earth, ground or soil or anything connected with “earth”. “ground”, or ”soil”.

In Chinese culture, “土” is one of the five properties “五行 (wǔxíng)“ used to characterize beings in nature. It is believed that the objects that are connected with the “土” property can help those with the “金 (jīn): meaning metal” (I.e. “土生金: from ground unearth the metal”). On the other hand, it would hinder those with property “水(shuǐ): meaning water or liquid”.

Please note that “radical” is an important concept in Chinese writing. A radical may be a word when used by itself, but it can also be used (like a building block) to construct other Chinese characters. Moreover, Chinese characters can be combined to formulate new words! Thus, learning these powerful radicals can help you learn Chinese writings effectively.

source: wikipedia