虚 xū — empty, false · English

虚

xū

empty, false

At a glance · 虚

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

虚字小篆从丘虍声（或虛），为形声字；本义为大土山、空虚，引申为空虚。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

虚本义为大丘、空虚，引申为虚假、空。

Structure

形声字，外部『虍』或『丘』为意符，内部表声。

At a glance

Pinyinxū

Radical虍

Strokes11

UnicodeU+865A

Character type形声

Theme状态

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English empty, false Xu is a phonetic-semantic character meaning empty and false.

Français vide, faux Xu est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant vide et faux.

Español vacío, falso Xu es un carácter fonosemántico que significa vacío y falso.

العربية فارغ، زائف شو حرف صوتي دلالي يعني الفارغ والزائف.

Русский пустой, ложный Сюй — фоносемантический знак, означающий пустой и ложный.

Common words

虚心xū xīnmodest
空虚kōng xūempty

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