Chinese symbol for “emptiness”
虚
xū
Traditional: 虛
emptiness; void; abstract theory or guiding principles; empty or unoccupied
The closest CC-CEDICT match for emptiness is 虚 (xū), defined as: emptiness; void; abstract theory or guiding principles; empty or unoccupied; diffident or timid; false.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “emptiness”
Related words
Other words that share a character with 虚.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 虚拟 (虛擬) | xū nǐ | to imagine; to make up; fictitious; theoretical; hypothetical |
| 虚假 (虛假) | xū jiǎ | false; phony; sham |
| 虚构 (虛構) | xū gòu | to make up; fabrication |
| 虚伪 (虛偽) | xū wěi | false; hypocritical |
| 空虚 (空虛) | kōng xū | hollow; emptiness |
| 虚弱 (虛弱) | xū ruò | weak; in poor health |
See also: Japanese symbol for “emptiness”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.