The character 雨 (yǔ): rain

On a cream ground, the character 雨 in black, with its horizontal top bar, its frame, its central vertical stroke and its four inner dots, two on each side. A soft grey blue cloud floats above it, lit along the upper edge. Pale blue strokes of rain slant down on either side of the character, outside it and never across it, reaching to the foot of the picture.

Pronunciation: yǔ
Strokes: 8
Radical: 雨

What it means

rain; CL:陣|阵[zhen4],場|场[chang2]

Where its shape comes from

That the dots are raindrops, every source agrees. What stands above them is another matter: the sky, say some; a cloud, say others. One of the two horizontal strokes in the character as we write it is a later addition, and the ancient forms carry only two or three drops, so the four of today are themselves a late regularisation.

Source: Xu Shen, Shuowen Jiezi (121 CE); the Chinese University of Hong Kong character database; the English Wiktionary, "Glyph origin" section.

A way to remember it

One bar for the sky, a frame below it, and the drops caught inside. In the character as it is written today there are four of them, two to the left and two to the right of the middle stroke: count them as you write.

This is a memory aid, not the origin of the character.

Words it appears in

下雨 xià yǔ · HSK 1 to rain
风雨 fēng yǔ wind and rain; the elements; (fig.) trials and hardships
小雨 xiǎo yǔ light rain; drizzle
大雨 dà yǔ heavy rain; CL:場|场[chang2]
雨水 yǔ shuǐ rainwater; rainfall; rain
暴雨 bào yǔ torrential rain; rainstorm; CL:場|场[chang2],陣|阵[zhen4]

Writing it

See the stroke order of 雨, animated stroke by stroke.