Details
Description
Cloud - rain waiting to be spoken. A character for drifting, change and whatever the sky is about to do.
Stroke Order
Cultural Context
Etymology
Composed of rain and say. Cloud that speaks rain.
Symbolism
Cloud, weather, change. Represents change in sky.
Related Culture & Scenes
- — Mountain floating above clouds
Seasonal
Shapes change with seasons: thunderhead clouds for summer, mackerel sky for autumn. Cloud observation is ancient wisdom for knowing seasons.
Component Breakdown
top-bottom: rain + 云
Words & Expressions
Words written with 雲
Four-Character Compounds
雲散霧消
うんさんむしょう
vanishing like mist
行雲流水
こううんりゅうすい
(metaphorically) floating with the tide
暗雲低迷
あんうんていめい
gathering dark clouds; being under the shadow of
雲煙万里
うんえんばんり
limitless expanse of clouds and smoke
雲泥万里
うんでいばんり
being poles apart; (there being) all the difference in the world
雲雨巫山
うんうふざん
sexual liaison
雲煙過眼
うんえんかがん
not being obsessed with something very long (just as clouds and haze pass swiftly before one's eyes)
雲集霧散
うんしゅうむさん
(many things) gathering like clouds and vanishing like mist; swarming and scattering
雲水行脚
うんすいあんぎゃ
itinerant monk being on pilgrimages to many lands
閑雲野鶴
かんうんやかく
life in natural setting, free from worldly cares
朝雲暮雨
ちょううんぼう
sexual liaison; morning clouds and evening rain
富貴浮雲
ふうきふうん
riches and honors are as fleeting as floating clouds; fortune and fame are here today, gone tomorrow
巫山雲雨
ふざんうんう
sexual liaison
翻雲覆雨
ほんうんふくう
fickle friendship
雲煙飛動
うんえんひどう
flying clouds and drifting haze; magnificent calligraphy; vivid penmanship
月卿雲客
げっけいうんかく
court nobles and other courtiers allowed into the Imperial Palace
籠鳥恋雲
ろうちょうれんうん
longing for freedom when tied down; caged bird's longing for the open sky
雲消霧散
うんしょうむさん
vanishing like mist
飛竜乗雲
ひりゅうじょううん
hero that seizes the moment and rises; a dragon soaring through the clouds
雲外蒼天
うんがいそうてん
light at the end of the tunnel; relief after overcoming hardship; open sky beyond the clouds
Proverbs & Idioms
雲を掴むような話
くもをつかむようなはなし
Like grasping at clouds
A vague and intangible story
Poetry
天つ風 雲のかよひ路 吹きとぢよ をとめの姿 しばしとどめむ
Wind of heaven, blow shut the path through the clouds — I would keep these dancing maidens here a little longer.
夏の夜は まだ宵ながら 明けぬるを 雲のいづこに 月やどるらむ
On a summer night dawn breaks while it still feels like evening. In which cloud, then, has the moon taken lodging?
めぐりあひて 見しやそれとも 分かぬまに 雲がくれにし 夜半の月かな
We met again, and before I could tell whether it was really you, you were gone, like the midnight moon behind cloud.
わたの原 こぎ出でてみれば 久方の 雲ゐにまがふ 冲つ白波
Rowing out across the wide sea and looking back, I cannot tell the white waves offshore from the clouds.
秋風に たなびく雲の たえ間より もれ出づる月の かげのさやけさ
Through a break in the clouds trailing on the autumn wind, the moonlight spills out, clear and cold.
Anime & Manga
紫雲寺家の子供たち
The Shiunji Family Children
A well-known work with 雲 in its Japanese title.
雲のむこう、約束の場所
The Place Promised in Our Early Days
A well-known work with 雲 in its Japanese title.
境界の彼方＃0 東雲
Beyond the Boundary: Daybreak
A well-known work with 雲 in its Japanese title.
八雲さんは餌づけがしたい。
Beauty and the Feast
A well-known work with 雲 in its Japanese title.
Related Figures & Stories
出雲阿国
Name contains 雲
Izumo no Okuni was a Japanese entertainer and miko who is believed to have invented the theatrical art form of kabuki.
Wikipedia北条早雲
Name contains 雲
Ise Sōzui , also known as Hōjō Sōun , was a Japanese daimyo and the first head of the Later Hōjō clan, one of the major powers in Japan's Sengoku…
Wikipedia安谷白雲
Name contains 雲
Hakuun Yasutani was a Sōtō Zen priest and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan, a lay Japanese Zen group.
Wikipedia孤雲懐奘
Name contains 雲
Koun Ejō was the second patriarch of the Japanese Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism who lived during the Kamakura period.
WikipediaOther kanji with the same meaning
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 雲 mean in Japanese?
雲 means cloud. Cloud - rain waiting to be spoken. A character for drifting, change and whatever the sky is about to do.
How do you read 雲?
On'yomi: ウン (UN). Kun'yomi: くも、-ぐも (kumo, gumo).
How many strokes does 雲 have?
雲 has 12 strokes. Its radical is 雨 (rain).
Is 雲 a good kanji for a tattoo?
雲 is one of the kanji most often chosen for tattoos. It means cloud. Read the full meaning and cultural background on this page first — some popular choices are deliberately dark.
Explore by meaning:cloud