籁 meaning and stroke order
Bamboo flute; flute, pipe; a musical note
How to write 籁, stroke by stroke
19 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 籁
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- a sound
- a noise
- musical pipe with 3 reeds
How 籁 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flute.
⺮ gives the meaning and 赖 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺮ (bamboo), shared by 149 characters on this site.
How to remember 籁
The bamboo top ⺮ tells you this is something made of bamboo, a flute, and 赖 (lài) below gives the sound lài. Picture a bamboo flute sitting on top of 赖 and singing "lài".
籁 almost never stands alone in modern Chinese. It mostly appears in 天籁 (tiānlài), meaning the sounds of nature or a voice so beautiful it seems heavenly, and in the literary phrase 万籁俱寂 (wàn lài jù jì), meaning all is silent. Example: 她的歌声真是天籁。(Tā de gēshēng zhēn shì tiānlài.) Her singing voice is truly heavenly.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the bamboo top and write 赖 (lài, to rely on, to blame), which has the same pronunciation. If the meaning is about sound or music, you need the ⺮ on top.
Common words with 籁
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 天籁 | tiānlài | sounds of nature |
Questions about 籁
How many strokes are in 籁?
籁 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 籁 mean?
籁 (lài) means bamboo flute; flute, pipe; a musical note. A common word with it is 天籁 (tiānlài), meaning "sounds of nature".
How do you pronounce 籁?
籁 is pronounced lài, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 籁?
The radical of 籁 is ⺮, which carries the idea of "bamboo". Dictionaries list 籁 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 籁?
The traditional form of 籁 is 籟. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 籁 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Can 天籁 describe a person's voice?
Yes. 天籁 originally meant natural sounds like wind and water, but today people often use it as high praise for a beautiful singing voice or music. It sounds poetic and complimentary.
What does 万籁俱寂 mean and when is it used?
万籁俱寂 (wàn lài jù jì) means every sound has gone quiet, describing deep silence, often at night. It is a written, literary idiom you will see in stories and essays more than in casual speech.