如rú

如

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 如 (rú, "like, as, if") is identical in simplified and traditional — the woman radical (女) paired with a phonetic component, originally depicting a woman following or obeying, a meaning that evolved into comparisons and conditional statements. It appears in 如果 (if), 如同 (like), 如此 (such as), and 譬如 (for example).

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Shuowen

如 is formed by the female radical 女 together with a component that resembles a bowl held toward the mouth; the oracle bone depiction shows a woman receiving a bowl of food, suggesting the act of following or imitating; this visual was abstracted to convey the meanings "like" or "as" in later script.

Pinyin

rú· HSK 2

如rú

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin