The Chinese symbol for luck and blessing — 福 (fú)

Where the character comes from

福 is 礻, the altar or spirit radical, beside 畐, a vessel full to the brim. An offering made at an altar for abundance. The same 畐 appears in 富 (rich), which is why the two characters look so alike.

How it is actually used

幸福 is happiness in the sense of a good life, 祝福 is to bless or wish someone well, 福气 is good fortune as a quality someone has, and 享福 is to enjoy an easy life. 福禄寿 — fortune, prosperity and longevity — is the traditional trio.

Both glyphs above are set in whatever Chinese font your device uses, which is a 楷书-derived regular script — the same shape a printer or a tattoo studio's "Chinese font" will produce. Brush styles (行书 running, 草书 cursive, 篆书 seal) look substantially different and are worth commissioning from a calligrapher rather than approximating from a font. You can watch this character written stroke by stroke in the Stroke Order Animator or practise it on printable 田字格 sheets.

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.

福 is one answer, not the answer. Which of these is right depends on what you mean by "luck and blessing" — and that is usually the question worth settling before anything is written down permanently.

What is the Chinese symbol for luck and blessing?

福 (fú) is good fortune in the sense of blessing — fortune conferred rather than fortune gambled. It is the character pasted upside down on doors at Chinese New Year, and the upside-down part is a pun, not a decorating choice. It is written 福 and pronounced fú.

What does 福 not mean?

It does not mean luck in the chance sense. Winning a bet is 运气 or 好运. 福 is closer to 'blessedness': something you have been granted, often over a lifetime.

Is 福 commonly mistranslated?

Yes. The claim you will meet most often is: "福 means luck, so it belongs on a lucky charm." 运 and 运气 are chance-luck. 福 is a blessing — the difference between 'I got lucky' and 'I have been fortunate'. This page lists 3 such claims about 福 with what is true instead.

Is 福 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

福 is the same in simplified and traditional Chinese, thirteen strokes. It is the character most often rendered in 篆书 seal script — the round, dense 福 you see on paper-cuts and red diamonds is usually a stylised seal form rather than the printed shape.

What else can I use for luck and blessing in Chinese?

Depending on what you mean: 运, 吉, 寿. This page explains when each one is the right choice, and 福 itself lives in words such as 幸福, 祝福, 福气.