鲤 meaning and stroke order
Carp
How to write 鲤, stroke by stroke
15 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 鲤
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- carp
How 鲤 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fish.
鱼 gives the meaning and 里 hints at the sound.
Radical: 鱼 (fish), shared by 79 characters on this site.
How to remember 鲤
鲤 is a fish 鱼 (yú) on the left with 里 (lǐ) on the right giving the sound. Picture a fish swimming inside 里, the village, in its pond: the carp.
鲤 rarely stands alone and usually appears in 鲤鱼 (lǐyú), the everyday word for carp. Carp are a symbol of good luck and success in Chinese culture, often seen in New Year pictures. Example: 池塘里有很多鲤鱼。 (Chí táng lǐ yǒu hěn duō lǐyú.) There are many carp in the pond.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 鲤 as just 里 because they sound the same, or mix it up with 鲫 (jì, crucian carp), which has the same fish radical. Remember that 鲤 keeps the third tone of 里.
Common words with 鲤
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 鲤鱼 | lǐyú | carp |
鲤 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 鲤
How many strokes are in 鲤?
鲤 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 鲤 mean?
鲤 (lǐ) means carp. A common word with it is 鲤鱼 (lǐyú), meaning "carp".
How do you pronounce 鲤?
鲤 is pronounced lǐ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 鲤?
The radical of 鲤 is 鱼, which carries the idea of "fish". Dictionaries list 鲤 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 鲤?
The traditional form of 鲤 is 鯉. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 鲤 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
What does 鲤鱼跳龙门 mean?
鲤鱼跳龙门 (lǐyú tiào lóngmén) means "the carp leaps over the dragon gate." It comes from a legend in which a carp that jumps the gate becomes a dragon, and it is used for someone achieving great success, such as passing an important exam.
Is the koi fish called 鲤 in Chinese?
Yes. Koi are a kind of ornamental carp and are usually called 锦鲤 (jǐnlǐ). Online, 锦鲤 is also slang for a lucky person or a good luck charm.