漢字Kanji · in States & Attributes
黄: yellow
- 龷(form)
- 由wherefore(form)
- 八eight(form)
龷, 由 and 八 are drawn in
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.
Four readings, and the words that use each
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 黄砂こうさgolden sands
オウou · on'yomi
- 黄金おうごんgold
- 卵黄らんおうegg yolk
きki · kun'yomi · on its own
- 黄色きいろyellow
- 黄ばむきばむturn yellow
こ-ko- · kun'yomi
- 黄金こがねgold
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 硫黄いおうsulfur, sulphur
- 黄昏たそがれdusk, twilight
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
In the oracle bone script, 黃 was written in two forms. One depicts a person 大 with a swollen abdomen, the more detailed forms adding a dot for the navel, representing an infirm person; it is read as 尪.
Source: Wiktionary, 黃 (rev. 93452287), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for the color of the sun and the prestigious yellow jade prized by ancient rulers.”
Connections
Also built on wherefore (由)
14 in allEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSimplified, as in Japanese · traditional 黃 · huáng
Japan uses the same simplified form as mainland China, 黄. Taiwan and Hong Kong write 黃.
- Simplified
- 黄 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 黃 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.