Chinese character for five: 五 (wǔ)
The Chinese character for five is 五 (wǔ). It means five and appears in 五月 (wǔyuè, May) and 五行 (wǔxíng, the five elements). Five is a key number in Chinese thought: five elements, five flavors, five directions.
How 五 is built
In early writing 五 was a cross shape between two horizontal lines, often explained as the meeting of heaven and earth, or the crossing of yin and yang. As a memory aid, you can see 二 (top and bottom lines) with a crossing stroke in between. It is the same in simplified and traditional Chinese and sounds like 武 (wǔ, martial) and 舞 (wǔ, dance).
五 wǔ · five
- 二 — two strokes
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 一 — horizontal stroke
Origin hint: Five elements (the cross with the extra stroke) between heaven 一 and earth 一 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 五 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: 五 is identical in both scripts; it is often used to represent the five elements, 五行.
Questions
What is the Chinese character for five?
五 (wǔ) means “five”.
How do you pronounce 五?
五 is pronounced wǔ.