瑠 means “lapis lazuli”

る · ru

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ル, リュウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 14 strokes

The story

A jewel (王, the form 玉 takes on the left) beside 留, to stay: picture a gem whose blue never fades. 瑠 lives in 瑠璃, lapis lazuli, whose 瑠璃色 is a deep violet-blue, and in 浄瑠璃, the chanted storytelling of bunraku puppet theater.

Used in 瑠璃 (ruri, lapis lazuli), 瑠璃色 (ruriiro, lapis blue), and 浄瑠璃 (joururi, chanted narrative of puppet theater)

More from Shades & Dyes

• 璃 lapis lazuli
• 鮮 vivid
• 染 dye
• 彩 color
• 丹 red
• 玄 dark
• 淡 pale
• 朱 vermilion
• 紺 navy blue
• 藍 indigo
• 斑 spot
• 褐 brown

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.