Chinese character for bamboo: 竹 (zhú)
The Chinese character for bamboo is 竹 (zhú). It means bamboo and appears in 竹子 (zhúzi, bamboo) and 竹林 (zhúlín, bamboo grove). Bamboo stands for resilience and integrity in Chinese culture because it bends but does not break.
How 竹 is built
竹 is a pictograph of two bamboo stems with drooping leaves at the top. When it appears as a part of other characters it shrinks to ⺮ on top, as in 笔 (brush, made of bamboo), 笑 (laugh) and 筷 (chopsticks). Many everyday objects in old China were made of bamboo, so this radical is very common. 竹 is identical in simplified and traditional Chinese.
竹 zhú · bamboo
竹 is not built from smaller parts; it is written with 6 strokes.
How 竹 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 竹 is identical in both scripts and symbolizes resilience; the two halves should look like a matching pair of stems.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for bamboo?
竹 (zhú) means “bamboo”.
How do you pronounce 竹?
竹 is pronounced zhú.