How to Write 赵 (zhào) — Meaning “Zhao (a common surname; an ancient state).”

Picture a person walking (走) while carrying a big cross (乂) on their back – the cross looks like a simple X. This visual helps you recall that 赵 has the walking radical on the left and the cross-like shape on the right. You can also think of "Zhao walks with an X mark."

Write the left side 走 first with 7 strokes: horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, left-falling, right-falling. Then add the right side 乂 with 2 strokes: left-falling then right-falling, crossing in the middle. A common mistake is adding a dot on the right side (like 义), but 赵 uses only two crossed strokes.

走 has only the walking radical with no extra right side, while 赵 adds the cross-like 乂 on the right. 赳 also has 走 on the left but its right side is 丩 (which looks like a twisted knot), not a simple cross. So remember: 赵 = 走 + X, 赳 = 走 + a knot.

赵 is a very common Chinese surname, used like "Mr. Zhao" (赵先生) or saying "my surname is Zhao" (姓赵). It also refers to the ancient State of Zhao from the Warring States period. Culturally, it is one of the top surnames in China, appearing in many historical stories and everyday names.

Common words containing 赵 include: 赵先生 (zhào xiān shēng) — Mr. Zhao.; 姓赵 (xìng zhào) — Surname Zhao; 赵国 (zhào guó) — The State of Zhao..