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

race, nationality, ethnicity; tribe, clan 11 strokes · Radical (square) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 族 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 .

Stroke Order & Practice

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
族 — 11 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left square
right arrow

Radical

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

How the character is built

is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. A group of people that swear by 矢 a single flag 方.

HSK 4 Words Containing 族

mínzú ethnic group; nationality
中国有五十六个民族。
Zhōngguó yǒu wǔshíliù gè mínzú.
China has 56 ethnic groups.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 18 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

他熟悉当地民情况。
From Mock Exam 08 →
语言不但是人们交流和表达的工具,而且是民文化不可缺少的部分。
From Mock Exam 13 →
弃车"指的是什么样的人?
From Mock Exam 06 →

Tasks Featuring 族 / 相关任务

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

📚 介绍中国的主要省市、民族
China Overview · 民族

FAQ

What does 族 mean in Chinese?

族 (zú) means race, nationality, ethnicity; tribe, clan. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 族 have?

族 is written in 11 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 族?

The radical of 族 is 方 (square).

What is the pinyin for 族?

族 is pronounced zú.

What HSK 4 words use 族?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 族 appears in 1 word, including 民族 (mínzú). See the full list above.

zhuàn All Characters zūn →