How to Write 岛 (dǎo) — Meaning “Island”

Imagine a small mountain (山) rising from the ocean with a bird (鸟) sitting on top — that lonely peak is an island. The bird's shape on the right helps you remember that the character ends with the familiar 鸟 component. This visual story links the parts to the meaning of an isolated landmass.

Write the left radical 山 first (vertical, vertical fold, vertical), making it narrow and tall. Then add the right side 鸟, keeping it slightly wider; note that 鸟 in 岛 uses 7 strokes total (山 3 strokes + right part 4 strokes). A common mistake is making the right side too narrow or forgetting the dot (representing the bird's eye) inside 鸟.

The right side differs: 岛 has 鸟 (bird), 屹 has 乞 (beggar), and 屺 has 己 (self). Meaning-wise, 岛 means "island"; 屹 means "towering" or "standing firm" (like a mountain); 屺 is a rare character meaning a mountain without grass. Visually, look for the bird shape in 岛 versus the simpler 乞 or 己 on the right.

岛 commonly appears in geographical names like 海南岛 (Hainan Island) and 台湾岛 (Taiwan Island), as well as in words like 海岛 (sea island) and 岛国 (island country, e.g., Japan). Culturally, islands often represent isolation or vacation spots in Chinese literature, and 岛 is also used in idioms like 孤岛 (lonely island) to describe a place cut off from the mainland.

Common words containing 岛 include: 海岛 (hǎi dǎo) — Island; 岛屿 (dǎo yǔ) — Islands and islets; 岛国 (dǎo guó) — Island country.