Chinese Tattoo 日: Meaning, Strokes & Design Guide
The character 日 means "sun; day; daytime" and is pronounced rì. Below: its structure, the words it appears in, and how it works as a tattoo.
Quick facts
| Character | 日 |
| Pinyin | rì |
| Meaning | sun; day; daytime |
| Strokes | 4 |
| Radical | ⽇ (No. 72) |
| HSK level | newest-1 |
Words that contain 日
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 日子 | rì zi | day | newest-4 |
| 生日 | shēng rì | birthday | newest-2 |
| 今日 | jīn rì | today | newest-5 |
| 节日 | jié rì | holiday | newest-3 |
| 日期 | rì qī | date | newest-4 |
| 日记 | rì jì | diary | newest-4 |
Words and levels: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Characters sharing the ⽇ radical
旺 wàng 明 míng 星 xīng 昌 chāng 智 zhì
All of these share the ⽇ radical, so they are visually related — useful when you compare designs.
Placing 日
日 is only 4 strokes, so it stays readable even small — but a simple character shows every wobble. There is nowhere to hide a shaky line here, so line weight and steady spacing matter more than with a dense character. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 日
日 appears both on its own and inside compounds, so the sense depends on context; here it reads “sun; day; daytime”. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 日 mean?
日 (rì) means “sun; day; daytime”.
How is 日 pronounced?
日 is pronounced rì in Mandarin.
How many strokes does 日 have?
日 has 4 strokes, under the ⽇ radical (No. 72).
How large should a 日 tattoo be?
With 4 strokes, 日 is open and holds detail well even at small sizes.
Which style works for 日?
Bold regular script (楷书) keeps the strokes clear. Semi-cursive (行书) adds flow but softens edges. Seal script looks classical but is harder for most readers to verify — use it only if a native reader has confirmed the rendering.
Is 日 common in modern Chinese?
Yes — 日 appears as a standalone HSK vocabulary item (newest-1), and in everyday words such as 日子、生日、今日.
Should I use simplified or traditional 日?
日 is written the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, so there is no form to choose.
Want 日 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this