ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

moon / month

yuè
4 strokes · 月 (moon radical) · HSK 1

Where 月 comes from

月 is a picture of the crescent moon — the moon was usually drawn as a crescent because a full circle was already taken by the sun (日). The two inner strokes are its markings. One cycle of the moon = one month, so 月 means both 'moon' and 'month'.

月 in Chinese culture

The moon is deeply romantic in Chinese culture. The Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) is all about the full moon, family reunion, and mooncakes. The poet Li Bai wrote some of China's most famous lines gazing at 明月 (the bright moon). Months are simply counted: 一月 (January, 'month one'), 二月 (February)...

Example

明月 míngyuè — bright moon

今天的月很大。
Jīntiān de yuè hěn dà.
Tonight's moon is very big.

How to remember it

A crescent shape with two marks inside — the MOON in the night sky.

Confusingly, a second 月-like shape (called 'meat radical') appears in body-part characters like 脸 (face) and 胖 (fat). Same shape, different origin — context tells them apart.

Same sound, different tones

Words unlocked by 月

明月 míngyuè
bright moon
一个月 yí gè yuè
one month
LEARN 月 WITH STROKE-BY-STROKE WRITING → DOWNLOAD ZHIZHI
One character a morning · 169-character HSK library · iOS