TraceHanzi

阙 meaning and stroke order

quē

Palace; watchtower

13 strokesRadical 门Traditional 闕
Strokes13
Pinyinquē
ToneTone 1
Frequency#4,749
Printable worksheet

How to write 阙, stroke by stroke

13 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. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13

Meaning of 阙

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

quèfourth tone (falling)
  1. Imperial city watchtower (old)
  2. fault
  3. deficiency
quēfirst tone (high and level)
  1. used in place of 缺 (old)
  2. mistake

How 阙 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Gate.

méngate+juéto hiccup

门 gives the meaning and 欮 hints at the sound.

Radical: 门 (gate), shared by 47 characters on this site.

How to remember 阙

Picture a big gate 门 (mén) framing the part 欮, which gives the sound. The gate reminds you of the tall watchtowers that stood on either side of a palace entrance.

Read què, it means a palace watchtower or the imperial palace itself, and it appears mostly in literary or historical writing. Read quē, it is an old way to write 缺 (quē), meaning a gap or something missing. Example: 宫阙 (gōng què) means palace or imperial palace.

Common mistake: Learners often write 缺 (quē, lack) when they mean 阙 in palace words like 宫阙, or use 阙 for everyday "lacking" in modern writing. In modern Chinese, use 缺 for missing or short, as in 缺少 (quēshǎo).

阙 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

壮zhuàng志zhì饥jī餐cān胡hú虏lǔ肉ròu，笑xiào谈tán渴kě饮yǐn匈xiōng奴nú血xuè。待dài从cóng头tóu、收shōu拾shí旧jiù山shān河hé，朝cháo天tiān阙quē。
With lofty aspirations, we long to feast on the flesh of the Hu invaders when hungry, and drink the blood of the Xiongnu enemies with laughter when thirsty. Awaiting the day when we can reclaim the lost lands, and present ourselves at the imperial court.

Questions about 阙

How many strokes are in 阙?

阙 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 阙 mean?

阙 (quē) means palace; watchtower.

How do you pronounce 阙?

阙 is pronounced quē, in the first tone (high and level).

What is the radical of 阙?

The radical of 阙 is 门, which carries the idea of "gate". Dictionaries list 阙 under this radical.

What is the traditional form of 阙?

The traditional form of 阙 is 闕. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 阙 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.

Is 阙 pronounced quē or què?

Both readings exist. Use què for the palace or watchtower meaning, as in 宫阙. Use quē for the old sense of a gap or omission, as in 阙如 (quē rú, missing or lacking).

Where might I see 阙 today?

You will mostly meet it in classical poems, historical texts, and set phrases. It also appears as a rare surname, read Quē.