建

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct

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HSK 3.0: Level 3
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 8
Radical: 廴 +6
Structure: Lower-left enclosure 左下包
Traditional: 建
Common rank: #592
Unicode: U+5EFA

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 建 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

廴 meaning “action” + 聿 sound ( yù )

Components 廴聿

How to remember it

build · Heisig RSH #398

brush + stretch

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 建

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
中国民主建国会	Zhōng guó Mín zhǔ Jiàn guó huì	China Democratic National Construction Association
建水县	Jiàn shuǐ Xiàn	Jianshui, a county in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture 紅河哈尼族彝族自治州\|红河哈尼族彝族自治州[Hong2…
建安区	Jiàn ān Qū	Jian'an, a district of Xuchang City 許昌市\|许昌市[Xu3 chang1 Shi4], Henan
建平县	Jiàn píng Xiàn	Jianping, a county in Chaoyang City 朝陽市\|朝阳市[Chao2 yang2 Shi4], Liaoning
建德市	Jiàn dé Shì	Jiande, a county-level city in Hangzhou City 杭州市[Hang2 zhou1 Shi4], Zhejiang
新建区	Xīn jiàn Qū	Xinjian, a district of Nanchang City 南昌市[Nan2 chang1 Shi4], Jiangxi
建成区	jiàn chéng qū	built-up area; urban area
建阳区	Jiàn yáng Qū	Jianyang, a district of Nanping City 南平市[Nan2 ping2 Shi4], Fujian
建教合作	jiàn jiào hé zuò	cooperative education (Tw)
八一建军节	Bā yī Jiàn jūn jié	see 建軍節\|建军节[Jian4 jun1 jie2]
建三江	Jiàn sān jiāng	Jiansanjiang, large-scale agricultural development in Sanjiang river plain in Heilongjiang
黄建南	Huáng Jiàn nán	John Huang (1945-), Democratic Party fundraiser
中国交通建设	Zhōng guó Jiāo tōng Jiàn shè	China Communications Construction Company
建华区	Jiàn huá Qū	Jianhua, a district of Qiqihar City 齊齊哈爾市\|齐齐哈尔市[Qi2 qi2 ha1 er3 Shi4], Heilongjiang
大建	dà jiàn	lunar month of 30 days; same as 大盡\|大尽[da4 jin4]
建立时间	jiàn lì shí jiān	(electronics) setup time; (electronics) settling time
建国	jiàn guó	to found a country; nation-building; the foundation of PRC by Mao Zedong in 1949
建水	Jiàn shuǐ	see 建水縣\|建水县[Jian4 shui3 Xian4]
建宁县	Jiàn níng Xiàn	Jianning, a county in Sanming City 三明市[San1 ming2 Shi4], Fujian
小建	xiǎo jiàn	lunar month of 29 days; same as 小盡\|小尽[xiao3 jin4]

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 聿 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
聿 sound part	yù	writing brush, pencil; thereupon
津	jīn	saliva, sweat; ferry, ford