書 is the character for “book”. It is made out of 10 strokes.
| Chinese Character | Simplified Version | Bopomofo | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 書 | 书 | ㄕㄨ | shū |


Definition
Book; letter; document; to write
Historical Origins
The character 書 dates back from the Bronze Script. It is a phono-semantic compound, which means it is composed of both a semantic element and a phonetic element. In this case, the semantic component is 聿, which represents a “writing brush,” reflecting the meaning related to writing or books. The phonetic component is 者, which provides a clue to the pronunciation of the character.

Vocabulary with the Character 書
| Chinese | Bopomofo | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 書本 | ㄕㄨ ㄅㄣˇ | shūběn | Book |
| 書店 | ㄕㄨ ㄉㄧㄢˋ | shūdiàn | Bookstore |
| 書法 | ㄕㄨ ㄈㄚˇ | shūfǎ | Calligraphy |
| 書籍 | ㄕㄨ ㄐㄧˊ | shūjí | Books (in general) |
| 書信 | ㄕㄨ ㄒㄧㄣˋ | shūxìn | Letter (correspondence) |
| 教科書 | ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄎㄜ ㄕㄨ | jiàokēshū | Textbook |
| 圖書館 | ㄊㄨˊ ㄕㄨ ㄍㄨㄢˇ | túshūguǎn | Library |
| 書面 | ㄕㄨ ㄇㄧㄢˋ | shūmiàn | In writing; written |
| 書包 | ㄕㄨ ㄅㄠ | shūbāo | Schoolbag; book bag |
| 書房 | ㄕㄨ ㄈㄤˊ | shūfáng | Study room; home office |

Join our Substack “Mandarin Zest“, where we regularly share intermediate to advanced Chinese learning content. Make sure to subscribe!