How to write 姓 (xìng, “family name”)
姓 (xìng), an HSK 2 character, means “family name” and “to be surnamed ...”. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 6, going rightwards, is the 7th in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 7, going downwards, is the 6th in Japanese schools. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 贵姓 (“what is your surname?”), 老百姓 (“ordinary people”) and 姓氏 (“family name”). Japanese reads it sei, “surname”, as a JLPT N2 kanji.
- Pinyin
- xìng
- Strokes
- 8
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 女 (“female”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
As a left-right character it splits into 女 (“female”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 生 (“to grow”), strokes 4–8, written the left part first.
- top leftdownwards → down and right
- centerdown and left
- leftrightwards
- topdown and right → down and left
- centerrightwards
- centerrightwards
- topdownwards
- bottomrightwards
Two stroke orders
Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 6 = Chinese 7; Japanese 7 = Chinese 6.
Trace it
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Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| xìng fourth tone | family name; surname; to be surnamed ... | — | 贵姓 老百姓 姓氏 汉姓 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 19 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 姓
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 姓 | xìng | family name; surname HSK 2 |
| 贵姓 貴姓 | guìxìng | what is your surname?; (May I ask) your surname? HSK 5 |
| 老百姓 | lǎobǎixìng | ordinary people; the "person in the street" HSK 5 |
| 姓氏 | xìngshì | family name HSK 7-9 |
| 汉姓 漢姓 | hànxìng | a Han family name (surname); a Han surname adopted by a person of… |
| 百姓 | bǎixìng | common people |
| 同名同姓 | tóngmíngtóngxìng | having same given name and family name |
| 鱼肉百姓 魚肉百姓 | yúròubǎixìng | to prey on the people |
| 单姓 單姓 | dānxìng | single-character surname |
| 复姓 復姓 | fùxìng | to revert to one's original surname |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 2, in list order: