卦 meaning and stroke order
Divination, fortune-telling
How to write 卦, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Meaning of 卦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- divinatory diagram
- one of the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]
- one of the sixty-four divinatory hexagrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]
How 卦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Divination.
卜 gives the meaning and 圭 hints at the sound.
Radical: 卜 (divination), shared by 4 characters on this site.
How to remember 卦
卦 is built from 圭 (guī), which gives the sound, and 卜 (bǔ), which means divination. Picture a diviner reading cracks marked 卜 beside a stacked jade tablet 圭 to work out a sign of fate.
卦 refers to the trigrams and hexagrams of the Book of Changes, and to divination in general. Today it is very common in 八卦 (bāguà), which also means gossip. 别那么八卦。(Bié nàme bāguà.) Don't be so nosy about gossip.
Common mistake: Learners often read 卦 as guī because of the 圭 component, but the correct reading is guà with a fourth tone. Also do not confuse it with 挂 (guà, to hang), which has the same sound but a hand radical 扌 instead of 卜.
Common words with 卦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 八卦 | bāguà | the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]; gossip | HSK 7-9 |
Characters that contain 卦
Learning 卦 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 卦
How many strokes are in 卦?
卦 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 卦 mean?
卦 (guà) means divination, fortune-telling. A common word with it is 八卦 (bāguà), meaning "the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]; gossip".
How do you pronounce 卦?
卦 is pronounced guà, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 卦?
The radical of 卦 is 卜, which carries the idea of "divination". Dictionaries list 卦 under this radical.
Is 卦 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 卦 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 八卦 mean gossip?
八卦 originally means the eight trigrams used in divination. In modern slang, especially from Cantonese and Hong Kong media, it came to mean gossip or being nosy, and it can work as a noun or an adjective.
What does 算卦 mean?
算卦 (suànguà) means to tell fortunes using divination diagrams. You might hear 找人算卦 (zhǎo rén suànguà), to go have your fortune told.