沧 (cāng): (bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green, (literary) cold
沧 (cāng) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 仓 (phonetic). It ranks #2759 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 沧 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- (bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green
- (literary) cold
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 沧桑 | cāng sāng | great changes |
| 沧海桑田 | cāng hǎi sāng tián | lit. the blue sea turned into mulberry fields (idiom) |
| 曾经沧海 | céng jīng cāng hǎi | lit. having crossed the vast ocean (idiom) |
| 沧桑感 | cāng sāng gǎn | a sense of having been through good times and bad |
| 饱经沧桑 | bǎo jīng cāng sāng | having lived through many changes |
| 曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云 | céng jīng cāng hǎi nán wéi shuǐ , chú què wū shān bù shì yún | there are no rivers to one who has crossed the ocean, and no clouds to one who has passed Mount Wu (idiom) |
| 沧源佤族自治县 | cāng yuán wǎ zú zì zhì xiàn | Cangyuan Va Autonomous County in Lincang 臨滄|临沧[Lin2 cang1], Yunnan |
| 沧海一粟 | cāng hǎi yī sù | lit. one grain floating on the ocean (idiom) |
| 海沧区 | hǎi cāng qū | Haicang, a district of Xiamen City 廈門市|厦门市[Xia4 men2 Shi4], Fujian |
| 澜沧拉祜族自治县 | lán cāng lā hù zú zì zhì xiàn | Lancang Lahuzu Autonomous County in Pu'er 普洱[Pu3 er3], Yunnan |
| 李沧区 | lǐ cāng qū | Licang district of Qingdao city 青島市|青岛市, Shandong |
| 沧州市 | cāng zhōu shì | Cangzhou, prefecture-level city in Hebei Province 河北省[He2 bei3 Sheng3] |
| 沧海遗珠 | cāng hǎi yí zhū | undiscovered talent (idiom) |
| 历尽沧桑 | lì jìn cāng sāng | to have been through the hardships of life |
| 临沧市 | lín cāng shì | Lincang, prefecture-level city in Yunnan Province 雲南省|云南省[Yun2 nan2 Sheng3] |
沧 appears in 26 compound words: 50 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 38 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 沧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
to experience many vicissitudes; to have experienced many vicissitudes of life; to have lived through many changes
a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society
to have been through the hardships of life; to have been through the mill
to experience many vicissitudes; to have experienced many vicissitudes of life; to have lived through many changes
a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society
to have been through the hardships of life; to have been through the mill
Example Sentences
清晨的沧面波光粼粼，倒映着岸边的柳树。
qīng chén de cāng miàn bō guāng 粼 粼 , dǎo yìng zhe àn biān de liǔ shù .
The morning sea shimmered with ripples, reflecting the willow trees along the shore.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 沧 (cāng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 沧 and 浅?
How many strokes does 沧 have?
What is the radical of 沧?
What are the components of 沧?
What are common words containing 沧?
What characters sound the same as 沧 (cāng)?
Is 沧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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