漢字Kanji · in States & Attributes
皇: emperor
JLPT N19 strokesGrade 6Your ink: 白 Not met
白 carries the meaning · 王 gives the sound
9 strokes
Bronze · Spring and Autumn Today
Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
One reading, and the words that use it
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 皇帝こうていemperor
- 皇后こうごうempress
- 皇太子こうたいしcrown prince
- 皇室こうしつImperial household
- 皇居こうきょImperial Palace
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 天皇てんのうEmperor of Japan
Also read オウ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Pure as the morning light! Imagine the very first ray of sun clearing the darkness, leaving everything bright and white.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
皇 takes the 王 family's reading, オウ (ou).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side皇 emperor · 白
vs旺 flourishing · 日In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · huáng
Same form: 皇 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 皇 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 皇 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin huáng 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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