How to write 星 (xīng, “star”)
星 (xīng), an HSK 1 character, means “star”, “heavenly body” and “satellite”. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 7, going rightwards, is the 8th in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 8, going downwards, is the 7th in Japanese schools. Among the HSK words it appears in 星期 (“week”), 星期天 (“Sunday”) and 星期日 (“Sunday”). Japanese reads it sei, “star”, as a JLPT N2 kanji.
- Pinyin
- xīng
- Strokes
- 9
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 日 (“sun”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
As a top-bottom character it splits into 日 (“sun”, the radical), strokes 1–4; 生 (“to grow”), strokes 5–9, written the top first.
- top leftdownwards
- top leftrightwards → downwards
- toprightwards
- centerrightwards
- leftdown and right → down and left
- leftrightwards
- bottom leftrightwards
- centerdownwards
- bottom leftrightwards
Two stroke orders
Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 7 = Chinese 8; Japanese 8 = Chinese 7.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| xīng first tone | star; heavenly body; satellite; small amount | — | 星期 星期天 星期日 星星 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 219 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 星
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 星期 | xīngqī | week; day of the week HSK 1 |
| 星期天 | xīngqītiān | Sunday HSK 1 |
| 星期日 | xīngqīrì | Sunday HSK 1 |
| 星星 | xīngxing | a star; the stars in the sky HSK 4 |
| 明星 | míngxīng | star; celebrity HSK 5 |
| 零星 | língxīng | fragmentary; piecemeal HSK 7-9 |
| 外星人 | wàixīngrén | space alien; extraterrestrial HSK 7-9 |
| 星球 | xīngqiú | celestial body; heavenly body HSK 7-9 |
| 卫星 衛星 | wèixīng | (aerospace) satellite; (astronomy) satellite HSK 7-9 |
| 星级 星級 | xīngjí | star rating; top-class HSK 7-9 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: