How to write 球 (qiú, “ball”)

球 (qiú), an HSK 2 character, means “ball”, “sphere” and “globe”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 2, going rightwards, is the 3rd in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 3, going downwards, is the 2nd in Japanese schools. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 篮球 (“basketball”), 足球 (“soccer”) and 球场 (“stadium”). Japanese reads it kyuu, “ball”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.

Pinyin: qiú
Strokes: 11
HSK: 2
Radical: 王 (“king or jade”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 王 (“king or jade”, the radical), strokes 1–4; 求 (“to seek”), strokes 5–11, written the left part first.

top leftrightwards
leftrightwards
top leftdownwards
bottom leftrightwards
toprightwards
topdownwards
centerdown and right
bottom leftup and right
rightleftwards → down and left
centerdown and right → rightwards
top rightdown and right

Names of the strokes

Two stroke orders

Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 2 = Chinese 3; Japanese 3 = Chinese 2.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 11 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 11 strokes

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
qiú second tone	ball; sphere; globe; ball game; match	—	篮球足球球场网球

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 2
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 278 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 球

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
球	qiú	ball; sphere HSK 2
篮球籃球	lánqiú	basketball HSK 2
足球	zúqiú	soccer; football HSK 2
球场球場	qiúchǎng	stadium; sports ground HSK 3
网球網球	wǎngqiú	tennis; tennis ball HSK 3
羽毛球	yǔmáoqiú	badminton; shuttlecock HSK 3
地球	dìqiú	the earth HSK 4
全球	quánqiú	the whole world; worldwide HSK 4
排球	páiqiú	volleyball HSK 4
球迷	qiúmí	fan (ball sports) HSK 4

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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Keep going

HSK 2, in list order: