漢字Kanji · in States & Attributes
白: white
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou 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.
Three readings, and the words that use each
ハクhaku · on'yomi · in compounds
- 白紙はくしwhite paper
- 白人はくじんCaucasian
- 白鳥はくちょうswan
- 空白くうはくblank space
- 明白なめいはくなobvious
ビャクbyaku · on'yomi
- 白夜びゃくやwhite (arctic) night
しろいshiroi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 白いしろいwhite
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 白髪しらがwhite or grey hair
Also read しろ, しら-, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Two theories:.
Source: Wiktionary, 白 (rev. 93606800), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for the color white, used to describe anything from snow to the "white" of a person's eye or skin.”
Connections
白 gives its sound to
The family reading is ハク (haku). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Also read ハク
9 kanji share this on'yomiAlso read ビャク
1 kanji shares this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · bái
Same form: 白 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 白 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 白 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin bái most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.