ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

to return / to go back

huí
6 strokes · 囗 (enclosure radical), a square within a square · HSK 1

Where 回 comes from

回 is a picture of a spiral or whirlpool — water turning back on itself, circling around. A square inside a square captures that 'turning back'. So 回 means to return, to go back, to circle round.

回 in Chinese culture

回 is 'to return': 回家 (go home, with 家 — one of the most emotional phrases in Chinese, especially at New Year when hundreds of millions 回家), 回来 (come back, with 来), 回去 (go back, with 去), 回头 (turn one's head / later, with 头). It's also a measure word for times/occasions (一回 = once), and 回 names the Hui people, a Muslim ethnic group. But its heartbeat is 回家 — going home.

Example

回家 huí jiā — to go home

我要回家了。
Wǒ yào huí jiā le.
I'm going home now.

How to remember it

A spiral, a square within a square — circling back, to RETURN.

回家 ('go home') drives the largest annual human migration on Earth — China's New Year travel rush (春运), when hundreds of millions return home for the holiday.

Same sound, different tones

1st huī
grey / ash
2nd huí
to return
3rd huǐ
to regret
4th huì
can / meeting

Words unlocked by 回

回家 huí jiā
to go home
回来 huílái
to come back
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