The Chinese symbol for prosperity — 富 (fù)

Where the character comes from

富 is 宀, a roof, over 畐, a full vessel. A full jar kept under your own roof. It shares that 畐 with 福 (blessing), which is why the two are so often confused.

How it is actually used

富有 is wealthy, 财富 is wealth as a noun, 富裕 is well-off, and 丰富 is abundant — used far more often of experience, content and variety than of money. 富强 is the pairing used of a prosperous and strong nation.

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.

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

What is the Chinese symbol for prosperity?

富 (fù) means rich and abundant — having plenty. It describes a state, not a substance: it is not the word for money, and it is not the word for a country's economic prosperity either. It is written 富 and pronounced fù.

What does 富 not mean?

It is not money — that is 钱 or 财. It is not economic prosperity in the macro sense — that is 繁荣. And it is not luck: 富 is a condition you are in, not something granted to you.

Is 富 commonly mistranslated?

Yes. The claim you will meet most often is: "富 means prosperity." 繁荣 is prosperity when you mean a flourishing economy or city. 富 means rich, and applied to a person it can carry the same edge 'wealthy' does — 富二代, the rich second generation, is not a compliment. This page lists 2 such claims about 富 with what is true instead.

Is 富 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

富 is identical in simplified and traditional Chinese, twelve strokes. Its roof radical gives it the same stable, boxy silhouette as 家 and 安, which is why the three of them look like a set.

What else can I use for prosperity in Chinese?

Depending on what you mean: 财, 荣, 丰. This page explains when each one is the right choice, and 富 itself lives in words such as 富有, 丰富, 财富.