漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
城: castle
JLPT N29 strokesGrade 4Your ink: 白 Not met
土 carries the meaning · 成 gives the sound
9 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
ジョウjou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 城下町じょうかまちcastle town
- 城主じょうしゅlord of a castle
- 城壁じょうへきrampart
- 城塞じょうさいfortress
- 大阪城おおさかじょうOsaka castle
- 築城するちくじょうするconstruct a castle
- 落城するらくじょうするsurrender (a castle) [v.i.]
しろshiro · kun'yomi · on its own
- 城しろcastle
Also read セイ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Imagine a cross planted firmly in the ground—that's 土! It shows a stake or a seedling marking the earth, reminding us of farming, construction, and the solid foundation upon which we build our lives and cities.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side城 castle · 土
vs晟 clear · 日In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · chéng
Same form: 城 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 城 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 城 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin chéng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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