寨 meaning and stroke order
Stockade, stronghold, outpost; brothel
How to write 寨, 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 寨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- stronghold
- stockade
- camp
- (stockaded) village
- variant of 寨[zhai4]
How 寨 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A fortress 宀 with walls made of wood 木.
Radical: 宀 (roof), shared by 67 characters on this site.
How to remember 寨
Picture a roof 宀 on top and wooden logs 木 at the bottom: a fortress with walls made of wood. That wooden fort is a stockade or stronghold, 寨 (zhài).
寨 is used for fortified camps, bandit strongholds, and stockaded villages, especially in place names in southwest China. Its best known word is 山寨 (shānzhài), which today also means a cheap knockoff product. Example: 这是山寨手机。(Zhè shì shānzhài shǒujī.) This is a knockoff phone.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 寨 with 塞 (sāi / sài), which has the same top but 土 at the bottom instead of 木. Remember that a stockade is built from wood 木, while 塞 is about blocking or a frontier pass.
Common words with 寨
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 山寨 | shānzhài | fortified hill village; mountain stronghold (esp. of bandits) | HSK 7-9 |
寨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 寨
How many strokes are in 寨?
寨 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 寨 mean?
寨 (zhài) means stockade, stronghold, outpost; brothel. A common word with it is 山寨 (shānzhài), meaning "fortified hill village; mountain stronghold (esp. of bandits)".
How do you pronounce 寨?
寨 is pronounced zhài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 寨?
The radical of 寨 is 宀, which carries the idea of "roof". Dictionaries list 寨 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 寨?
The traditional form of 寨 is 砦. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 寨 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 寨 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 寨 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 山寨 mean a fake or copycat product?
山寨 originally meant a mountain bandit stronghold outside official control. Modern slang borrowed that outlaw image for unofficial, imitation goods, such as 山寨手机 (shānzhài shǒujī), a knockoff phone.
Is 寨 used in place names?
Yes. Many villages, especially in Guizhou, Yunnan, and other areas with ethnic minority communities, have 寨 in their names, like 苗寨 (Miáozhài), a Miao village. In this sense it simply means a village, often a traditional one.