The Chinese symbol for freedom — 自由 (zìyóu)
There is no single Chinese character for freedom. The word is 自由 (zìyóu), two characters meaning roughly 'from oneself' — and neither one alone says anything about being free. That is the answer to the question most people are asking on this page.
At a glance
- Character
- 自由 full dictionary entry
- Pinyin
- zìyóu
- Literal meaning
- Freedom; liberty
- Dictionary senses
- Freedom (free - liberty) From the same dictionary as our translator.
Stroke order
What 自由 means
Where the character comes from
自 was a picture of a nose, which is why Chinese speakers still point at their own nose to mean 'me'; it came to mean self. 由 shows something issuing from a vessel, hence 'from, by way of, due to'. Put together: proceeding from yourself.
How it is actually used
自由 is the ordinary modern word — 言论自由 is freedom of speech, 自由市场 is a free market, 自由泳 is freestyle swimming, and 不自由 means constrained. The two characters do appear together in classical texts meaning 'to do as one pleases', but the modern political sense of liberty was fixed in the nineteenth century, largely through Japanese 自由 (jiyū) translating the European concept.
What 自由 does not mean
自 alone means self, oneself. 由 alone means 'from' or 'because of'. A single 自 tattooed or hung on a wall says 'self', which is a different statement, and 由 by itself says almost nothing at all.
Claims you will meet elsewhere
"自 is the Chinese character for freedom."
It is the character for self. This is the commonest error in this whole cluster, and it happens because 'freedom' gets truncated to one character to fit a design.
"自由 is an ancient Chinese concept."
The two characters together are old — they appear in the Han-era poem 孔雀东南飞 meaning 'to act as one pleases'. The modern sense of political liberty is a nineteenth-century translation, and the pathway ran through Japanese.
"自由 and 自在 mean the same thing."
自在 is being at ease and unconstrained, with a strong Buddhist flavour — 观自在 is a name of Guanyin. It is inner freedom. 自由 is the political and practical kind.
For the general version of this problem — why a machine translation of a single word so often reads as confident nonsense — see Why AI Translators Guess.
The character in different scripts
简体
繁體
Both characters are written identically in simplified and traditional Chinese — 自 is six strokes, 由 is five. This is one of the few entries on this list with no script split at all, so there is nothing to choose between mainland and Taiwanese forms.
The words 自由 lives in
This is the part a symbol list leaves out, and it is the fastest way to feel what a character actually carries. Readings and meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the translator; tap any word for its full dictionary entry.
Other ways to say freedom
自由 is one answer, not the answer. Which of these is right depends on what you mean by "freedom" — and that is usually the question worth settling before anything is written down permanently.
Unconstrained and at ease — freedom as an inner state rather than a right.
Autonomous, self-determining. Used of people and of countries.
To release, to let go. 放手 is to let go of something; the verb behind freeing rather than the noun.
自由 — frequently asked questions
What is the Chinese symbol for freedom?
There is no single Chinese character for freedom. The word is 自由 (zìyóu), two characters meaning roughly 'from oneself' — and neither one alone says anything about being free. That is the answer to the question most people are asking on this page. It is written 自由 and pronounced zìyóu.
What does 自由 not mean?
自 alone means self, oneself. 由 alone means 'from' or 'because of'. A single 自 tattooed or hung on a wall says 'self', which is a different statement, and 由 by itself says almost nothing at all.
Is 自由 commonly mistranslated?
Yes. The claim you will meet most often is: "自 is the Chinese character for freedom." It is the character for self. This is the commonest error in this whole cluster, and it happens because 'freedom' gets truncated to one character to fit a design. This page lists 3 such claims about 自由 with what is true instead.
Is 自由 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Both characters are written identically in simplified and traditional Chinese — 自 is six strokes, 由 is five. This is one of the few entries on this list with no script split at all, so there is nothing to choose between mainland and Taiwanese forms.
What else can I use for freedom in Chinese?
Depending on what you mean: 自在, 自主, 放. This page explains when each one is the right choice, and 自由 itself lives in words such as 自由, 自己, 自然.
Concepts that get confused with this one
Keep going
Check any wording of your own in the Chinese to English translator before it goes anywhere permanent, look 自由 up in full in the dictionary, learn the components it is built from in the Chinese Radicals guide, see it used in real sentences in the example sentence bank, or read Why AI Translators Guess for why single-word translation is the hardest kind.