Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

木: tree, wood

JLPT N54 strokesGrade 1Your ink: 白 Not met
4 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Shang
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Four readings, and the words that use each

ボクboku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 大木たいぼくlarge tree

モクmoku · on'yomi

  • 木曜日もくようびThursday
  • 木材もくざいlumber
  • 木造もくぞうwooden

きki · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 木村きむらKimura (surname)
  • 青木あおきAoki (surname)
  • 植木うえきgarden shrubs

こ-ko- · kun'yomi

  • 木の葉このはfoliage, leaf

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Pictogram (象形)

A tree: branches on top, roots on the bottom (more visible in earlier forms).

Source: Wiktionary, 木 (rev. 94507188), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Stand before a great, ancient tree and see 木! The vertical line is the sturdy trunk, the top strokes are branches reaching for the sunlight, and the bottom strokes are the roots gripping the earth.”
More in the 木 tree story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

Also read ボク

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read モク

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
木 tree
vs本 book
Compare the two shapes stroke by stroke.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · mù

Same form: 木 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
木 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
木 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin mù most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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