The 24 Cangjie radicals and their four groups
Cangjie has 24 radicals mapped to A through Y on the keyboard (X is skipped). You will find plenty of radical mnemonics (字根口訣) online, but rather than memorizing by rote, we recommend doing the Cangjie Workbook radical lessons. Spend at least 20 minutes a day and you will learn the radicals and their keyboard positions in no time.
Each radical falls into one of four groups: philosophy (哲理), strokes (筆劃), body (人身), and shapes (字形). Try to associate each radical with its location on the keyboard rather than the corresponding English letter.
When you see a character, you look for its basic shape, and the shape reminds you of the key. That recognition comes from repetition, not recitation. Below, each radical is listed with its key, basic shape, traditional form name, and a few example characters. The X key (難, "difficult") has no radical of its own; it is reserved for characters that cannot be decomposed by the normal rules.
Philosophy Group: 日月金木水火土 (keys A to G)
The first group maps 日 sun and 月 moon to A and B, and the five elements (金 metal, 木 wood, 水 water, 火 fire, 土 earth) to C, D, E, F, and G.
| Key | Radical | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A | 日sun | 明早昨時 |
| B | 月moon | 有朋肚目 |
| C | 金metal | 釣錢鏡鉤 |
| D | 木wood | 相本東束 |
| E | 水water | 永泉泳泵 |
| F | 火fire | 秋灰炊災 |
| G | 土earth | 圭去志吉 |
Stroke Group: 竹戈十大中一弓 (keys H to N)
The second group maps 竹 bamboo, 戈 halberd, 十 ten, 大 big, 中 middle, 一 one, and 弓 bow to H, I, J, K, L, M, and N. This group also carries a set of traditional form names closer to the shapes themselves: 斜 slant, 點 dot, 交 cross, 叉 fork, 縱 vertical, 橫 horizontal, and 鉤 hook, which name the basic stroke each radical stands for. In practice, these stroke shapes are what you should recognize, not the characters 竹 or 戈.
| Key | Radical | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| H | 竹bamboo斜 (slant) | 符笛節笠 |
| I | 戈halberd點 (dot) | 成戒我找 |
| J | 十ten交 (cross) | 古固車哉 |
| K | 大big叉 (fork) | 天奇器爽 |
| L | 中middle縱 (vertical) | 忠史仲患 |
| M | 一one橫 (horizontal) | 旦可不亞 |
| N | 弓bow鉤 (hook) | 弟弦張弗 |
Body Group: 人心手口 (keys O to R)
The third group maps 人 person, 心 heart, 手 hand, and 口 mouth to O, P, Q, and R. Like the first group, it is named directly by its objects, so each radical is its own form name.
| Key | Radical | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| O | 人person | 以內來夾 |
| P | 心heart | 思念必忽 |
| Q | 手hand | 拿掰拳摹 |
| R | 口mouth | 吹句區沾 |
Shape Group: 尸廿山女田卜 (keys S to Y, skipping X)
The fourth group maps 尸 corpse, 廿 twenty, 山 mountain, 女 woman, 田 field, and 卜 divination to S, T, U, V, W, and Y. This group also has a set of form names: 側 leaning, 並 side by side, 仰 upturned, 紐 interlocking, and 方 square, describing each radical's outline.
| Key | Radical | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| S | 尸corpse側 (leaning) | 尺局戶房 |
| T | 廿twenty並 (side by side) | 甘革難黃 |
| U | 山mountain仰 (upturned) | 出仙幽峽 |
| V | 女woman紐 (interlocking) | 好安妻姨 |
| W | 田field方 (square) | 男由神電 |
| Y | 卜divination | 下外正些 |