墟 meaning and stroke order
High mound; hilly countryside; wasteland
How to write 墟, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 墟
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- ruins
- (literary) village
- variant of 圩[xu1]
- country fair
How 墟 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 虚 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 墟
墟 combines 土 (earth) on the left with 虚 (xū, empty) on the right, which also gives the sound. Picture empty earth where buildings once stood, and you have ruins.
墟 is rarely used alone in modern Chinese and mostly appears in the word 废墟 (fèixū, ruins). In southern China it can also mean a country fair or market, as in 趁墟 (chènxū, to go to the market). Example: 地震后，小镇变成了一片废墟。(Dìzhèn hòu, xiǎozhèn biànchéngle yí piàn fèixū.) After the earthquake, the town became ruins.
Common mistake: Learners often write 虚 (xū, empty) alone when they mean 废墟, forgetting the 土 on the left. Remember that ruins need the earth radical, while 虚 is about emptiness or weakness, as in 虚弱 (xūruò).
Common words with 墟
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 废墟 | fèixū | ruins | HSK 7-9 |
墟 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 墟
How many strokes are in 墟?
墟 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 墟 mean?
墟 (xū) means high mound; hilly countryside; wasteland. A common word with it is 废墟 (fèixū), meaning "ruins".
How do you pronounce 墟?
墟 is pronounced xū, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 墟?
The radical of 墟 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 墟 under this radical.
Is 墟 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 墟 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 墟 and 圩 (xū)?
Both can mean a rural market or fair in southern Chinese usage, and 墟 is listed as a variant of 圩 in that sense. 圩 also has the reading wéi, meaning a dike or embankment, which 墟 does not have.
What measure word goes with 废墟?
The most common is 片 (piàn), as in 一片废墟 (yí piàn fèixū), a stretch of ruins. You will also see 变成废墟 (biànchéng fèixū), to be reduced to ruins.