光 (guāng) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

guāng light; bright, brilliant; only, merely 6 strokes · Radical 儿 (son) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 光 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced guāng.

light
bright
brilliant
only
merely

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

光 — 6 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

光 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

光 =

⺌ top

兀 bottom weak

Radical

The radical of 光 is 儿 — meaning son. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 兄克免允.

How the character is built

光 is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. A person 儿 carrying a torch 火.

HSK 4 Words Containing 光

不光 bùguāng not only; not just

不光是我，大家都这么想。

Bùguāng shì wǒ, dàjiā dōu zhème xiǎng.

Not just me, everyone thinks so.

光 guāng light; ray; only; merely

光说不做没有用。

Guāng shuō bú zuò méiyǒu yòng.

Just talking without doing is useless.

阳光 yángguāng sunshine; sunlight

今天阳光很好，适合出去走走。

Jīntiān yángguāng hěn hǎo, shìhé chūqu zǒuzou.

The sunshine is nice today, good for a walk.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

光 appears in 26 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

阳光的作用很大。

From Mock Exam 05 →

植物会为了阳光、空气和水而竞争。

From Mock Exam 08 →

一些又高又大的植物往往能获得更多的阳光、空气和水，于是越长越高大。

From Mock Exam 08 →

Tasks Featuring 光 / 相关任务

Words containing 光 appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论自然情况

Nature & Geography · 光、阳光

FAQ

What does 光 mean in Chinese?

光 (guāng) means light; bright, brilliant; only, merely. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 光 have?

光 is written in 6 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 光?

The radical of 光 is 儿 (son). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 兄, 克, 免, 允.

What is the pinyin for 光?

光 is pronounced guāng.

What HSK 4 words use 光?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 光 appears in 3 words, including 不光 (bùguāng), 光 (guāng), 阳光 (yángguāng). See the full list above.