ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

water

shuǐ
4 strokes · Pictograph: a stream's center current with droplets flanking · HSK 1

Where 水 comes from

水 draws a river: the winding center stroke is the main current, the side dots are eddies and spray. As a radical it liquefies into 氵 three-drops, flowing through hundreds of characters — everything wet, washed, or drowned carries it.

水 in Chinese culture

上善若水 'the highest good is like water' — Laozi made 水 philosophy's favorite element: soft yet unstoppable, always seeking the low place. Modern slang inverted it: 水 means diluted, padded — 水军 'water army' are paid shills, 注水 means fluffing content. This app has none.

Example

水果 shuǐguǒ — fruit

请给我一杯水。
Qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ.
A glass of water, please.

How to remember it

A river's current with spray on both sides — WATER flowing.

风水 feng shui is literally 'wind-water' — the ancient art of siting homes between the two moving elements.

Same sound, different tones

(rare)
1st shuī
3rd shuǐ
water
4th shuì
to sleep

Words unlocked by 水

水果 shuǐguǒ
fruit
风水 fēngshuǐ
feng shui
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One character a morning · 169-character HSK library · iOS