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
Level: HSK1
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.

How it used to be written

Oracle bone script 商
Clerical script 東漢
See all 15 forms

Forms, sources and dates: the 字形演變 database of 小學堂, Academia Sinica, public domain (CC0).

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 · HSK1 to rain
雨衣 yǔ yī · HSK3 raincoat; CL:件[jian4]
雨水 yǔ shuǐ · HSK5 rainwater; rainfall; rain
暴雨 bào yǔ · HSK5 torrential rain; rainstorm; CL:場|场[chang2],陣|阵[zhen4]
风雨 fēng yǔ · HSK6 wind and rain; the elements; (fig.) trials and hardships
阵雨 zhèn yǔ · HSK6 shower (rain)

See the 9 HSK words built on 雨, grouped by level.

Writing it

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