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

zhōu continent; island 9 strokes · Radical (water) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 洲 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 zhōu.

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
洲 — 9 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 water
right state

Radical

The radical of is — meaning water. 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: .

How the character is built

is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. A state 州 surrounded by water 氵; 州 also provides the pronunciation.

HSK 4 Words Containing 洲

Yàzhōu Asia
中国是亚洲最大的国家。
Zhōngguó shì Yàzhōu zuì dà de guójiā.
China is the largest country in Asia.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 8 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

邓亚萍什么时候获得亚第一?
From Mock Exam 03 →

Tasks Featuring 洲 / 相关任务

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

📚 讲述中外友好故事
China-World Friendship · 亚洲

FAQ

What does 洲 mean in Chinese?

洲 (zhōu) means continent; island. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 洲 have?

洲 is written in 9 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 洲?

The radical of 洲 is 氵 (water). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 济, 江, 深, 油, 汤.

What is the pinyin for 洲?

洲 is pronounced zhōu.

What HSK 4 words use 洲?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 洲 appears in 1 word, including 亚洲 (Yàzhōu). See the full list above.

zhì All Characters zhù →