The Chinese character 日 (rì) can be defined as day, sun, date, or day of the month. Besides being an independent character, it is also a radical. This means that 日 (rì) is a component of other characters that often have to do with the sun or with the day.

Character Evolution

The character 日 is a pictograph depicting the sun. Its earliest form was a circle with a dot in the center, and four rays extending from the circle. The central dot has become a horizontal stroke in the modern form of this character, which makes it similar to the character 目 (mù), which means eye.

日 not only refers to the Earth's source of light, but it also means “day.” It's used when talking about dates, e.g. 7日 is the seventh day of whatever month you’re talking about. If you put two sun characters together 日日 (rì rì) it means “every day.”

Sun Radical

Here are some characters that incorporate the radical 日. Many Chinese words that include the sun radical are associated with daytime or brightness, but that is not always the case.

早 – zǎo – early; morning

旱 – hàn – drought

旴 – xū – rising sun

明 – míng – bright; clear