Japanese symbol for “yao”
爻
こう
Romaji: kou
yao (line representing yin or yang that comprises one third of an I Ching trigram)
In Japanese, yao is 爻, read こう (kou).
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.
Meanings
- n yao (line representing yin or yang that comprises one third of an I Ching trigram)
Kanji and stroke order
Other Japanese words for “yao”
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ヤオ | ヤオ yao | Yao (people) |
| ヤオ族 | ヤオぞく yaozoku | Yao (people) |
Related words
Words that share a kanji.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 陽爻 | ようこう youkou | yang yao (unbroken line composing one third of a trigram) |
| 陰爻 | いんこう inkou | yin yao (broken line composing one third of a trigram) |
| 爻辞 | こうじ kouji | commentary (on any of the 384 lines of the hexagrams in the Book of Changes) |
Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.