漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
后: empress, queen
Also: after, behind, back, later
JLPT N16 strokesGrade 6Your ink: 白 Not met
口 carries the meaning · 厂 is drawn in
6 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 皇后こうごうempress
- 皇后陛下こうごうへいかher majesty the Empress
- 皇太后こうたいごうQueen Mother
きさきkisaki · kun'yomi · on its own
- 后きさきempress (consort); queen (consort)
Also read ゴ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Open your mouth wide and what do you see? A simple, sturdy square!”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side后 empress · 厂
vs吏 officer · 丈In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · hòu
Same form: 后 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 后 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 后 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin hòu most common reading
False friend. In simplified Chinese, 后 also stands for 後 (behind, back), which Japanese writes as a separate kanji.
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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