字の旅3,000 years in four forms
Oracle bone · ShangShang · c. 1200 BCE
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
部首Radical · in Textiles, Plants & Food
竹
竹 bamboo
たけ take
6 strokesRadical of 9 kanjiPart of 25
Your ink in 竹0% painted · 0 of 9 familiar
Origin · sourced
Pictogram象形
Two bamboo stalks, with leaves. Earlier forms resembled 个 + 个, current form resembles rather ケ + ケ, or 亇 + 亇.
Source: Wiktionary, 竹 (rev. 92810007), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Flexible and strong! Imagine a thicket of green bamboo swaying in the wind, bending but never breaking. This radical represents the versatility of natural materials—used for everything from food and construction to writing tools and musical instruments. When you see it, think of resilience, tradition, and the countless ways nature provides for humanity.”
Where it sits in a kanji
Indicates bamboo, objects made of bamboo (boxes, mats, flutes), writing tools (brushes), or the qualities of being flexible, light, and durable.
一覧
Every kanji with 竹 as its radical
Most used first
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
All 9 kanji