抽
Character Story & Explanation
抽 is widely used in modern Chinese life — most notably in 抽奖 (chōu jiǎng), meaning 'to draw a prize' in lotteries, promotions, and online events (e.g., WeChat red envelope draws). It also appears in official terms like 抽样 (chōu yàng, 'sampling') in statistics and quality control, a practice standardized in China’s GB/T 2828.1 national inspection standards since the 1980s.
The character’s form evolved from seal script, where 扌 (hand) combined with 由 (originally a pictograph of a 'well shaft' or 'passage', later repurposed phonetically). No oracle-bone record exists for 抽 — its earliest attestation is in Han dynasty texts meaning 'to pull out' or 'to select'. Today, Chinese people commonly say 我来抽一张 (wǒ lái chōu yì zhāng) when picking a card during games — a real, frequent usage.
Hi students! Let’s learn 抽 (chōu), a Level 4 HSK character with 8 strokes and the hand radical 扌 — which tells us this character involves an action done with the hand. Its core idea is ‘to draw out’ or ‘pull out from between’, like pulling a book from a shelf or extracting information from data. It’s not just physical — it often implies careful, deliberate removal or selection.
Notice how the right side, 由 (yóu), looks like a ‘box with a vertical line’ — historically used as a phonetic component (though pronunciation has shifted). Don’t memorize it as ‘box’; instead, link 扌+由 → ‘hand + guiding path’ = pulling something forth intentionally. This helps you remember both sound and sense.
抽 appears in many everyday contexts: drawing lots (抽奖), smoking (抽烟), and even computing (e.g., 抽取 data). It’s versatile but always carries that nuance of extraction — not just grabbing, but selecting *from within* a group or space. Practice writing it slowly: first the hand radical (3 strokes), then 由 (5 strokes), following standard stroke order.
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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