漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
生: life, genuine
Also: birth
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
9 readings, and the words that use each
セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 学生がくせいstudent
- 先生せんせいteacher, master, doctor
ショウshou · on'yomi
- 一生いっしょうone's whole life
- 誕生日たんじょうびbirthday
いきるikiru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 生きるいきるlive
うまれるumareru · kun'yomi
- 生まれるうまれるbe born
おうou · kun'yomi
- 生い立ちおいたちupbringing, background
はえるhaeru · kun'yomi
- 生えるはえるgrow [v.i.]
はやすhayasu · kun'yomi
- 生やすはやすgrow [v.t.]
きki · kun'yomi
- 生地きじcloth
なまnama · kun'yomi
- 生卵なまたまごraw egg
Also read いかす, いける, うまれる, うまれ, うまれ, うむ, なま-, なる, なす, むす, -う, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)屮 bud + 一 ground
Source: Wiktionary, 生 (rev. 92706259), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Life finds a way! Imagine a tiny green sprout pushing through the dark soil to reach the morning sun.”
Connections
生 gives its sound to
The family reading is セイ (sei). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shēng
Same form: 生 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 生 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 生 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin shēng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.