Chinese symbol for “lead”
领导
lǐng dǎo
Traditional: 領導
lead; leading; to lead; leadership
The closest CC-CEDICT match for lead is 领导 (lǐng dǎo), defined as: lead; leading; to lead; leadership; leader; measure word: 位 (wèi), 个 (gè).
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 “lead”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 率 | shuài | to lead; to command |
| 领先 (領先) | lǐng xiān | to lead; to be in front |
| 率领 (率領) | shuài lǐng | to lead; to command |
| 铅 (鉛) | qiān | lead (chemistry) |
| 牵头 (牽頭) | qiān tóu | to lead (an animal by the head); to take the lead |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 领导.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 领域 (領域) | lǐng yù | domain; sphere; field; territory; area |
| 领导人 (領導人) | lǐng dǎo rén | leader |
| 领袖 (領袖) | lǐng xiù | leader |
| 占领 (佔領) | zhàn lǐng | to capture; to seize; to occupy by force |
| 领土 (領土) | lǐng tǔ | territory |
| 导致 (導致) | dǎo zhì | to lead to; to create; to cause; to bring about |
| 指导 (指導) | zhǐ dǎo | to guide; to direct; to instruct; coach; trainer |
| 导演 (導演) | dǎo yǎn | to direct; director (film etc) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “lead”.
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.