国國 guó — country, nation, state; national
guó (second tone, rising)
Traditional: 國
country, nation, state; national
8 strokesRadical 囗Frequency #16
Pinyin
- guó (second tone, rising)
country, nation, state; national
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿴囗玉The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 囗meaning partno entry yetThe enclosure: the border drawn round the territory.
- 玉shape partno entry yetJade — a modern replacement. The traditional 國 has 或 inside: a halberd 戈 guarding a walled mouth, that is, the population and the land it holds.
Mnemonic
A border 囗 with jade 玉 inside it — the treasure kept within the walls. That reading is a modern one, made when the character was simplified. The traditional 國 draws the older idea: inside the border, a halberd 戈 standing over a mouth 口 and a strip of land — the people, the ground and the arms that hold them. 中国, 国家, 外国, 法国.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.