Chinese character for jade: 玉 (yù)
The Chinese character for jade is 玉 (yù). It means jade and, by extension, something precious and pure. It appears in 玉石 (yùshí, jade) and in many names. Jade has been treasured in China for thousands of years.
How 玉 is built
玉 began as a picture of three pieces of jade on a string, which looked just like 王 (king). A dot was later added to tell the two apart. As a part of other characters it usually appears on the left as 王 (without the dot), as in 球 (ball) and 珠 (pearl), marking precious stones. It also sits inside 国 (country) and 宝 (treasure). It is identical in both scripts.
玉 yù · jade
- 王wáng — king or monarch
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丶 — dot
Origin hint: A necklace 丨 adorned with three pieces of jade (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
How 玉 is used
Before you use it as a tattoo or design: Make sure the dot of 玉 is present and placed at the lower right, or it becomes 王 (king).
Questions
What is the Chinese character for jade?
玉 (yù) means “jade”.
How do you pronounce 玉?
玉 is pronounced yù.