陈 (chén): Chen (c. 1045 – 479 BC), a Zhou dynasty state, Chen (557–589), one of the Southern Dynasties 南朝, (bound form) to lay out, to exhibit, to display

陈 (chén) is a Chinese character meaning “chen (c. 1045 – 479 bc), a zhou dynasty state.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 阝 (structural) and 东 (structural). It ranks #525 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 陈 to place 阝 facing east 东. Its radical form 阝 (mound) appears in many related characters such as 那 (nà, (specifier) that), 都 (dōu, all), 院 (yuàn, courtyard).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. Chen (c. 1045 – 479 BC), a Zhou dynasty state
  2. Chen (557–589), one of the Southern Dynasties 南朝
  3. (bound form) to lay out
  4. to exhibit
  5. to display

Etymology & Origin

陈

ideographicTo place 阝 facing east 东

Decomposition: ⿰阝东 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Practice writing 陈 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
陈述verbchén shùto state
陈年adjectivechén nián(of wine) aged
陈词滥调phrasechén cí làn diàocliché
陈旧adjectivechén jiùold-fashioned
新陈代谢nounxīn chén dài xièmetabolism (biology)
陈列verbchén lièto display
陈列室nounchén liè shìexhibition room
陈规nounchén guīoutmoded conventions
陈腐adjectivechén fǔtrite
陈皮nounchén pídried tangerine peel (used in cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine)
陈诉verbchén sùto state
陈述句nounchén shù jùdeclarative sentence
暗渡陈仓phraseàn dù chén cānglit. secretly crossing the Wei River 渭河 at Chencang (idiom, refers to a stratagem used by Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Li...
推陈出新phrasetuī chén chū xīnto push out the old and bring in the new (idiom)
陈酒nounchén jiǔwell-aged wine with a mellow, rich taste
94
Total compounds
81
As first character
12
As last character
7
As middle character

陈 appears in 94 compound words: 81 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 7 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 陈 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

茂mào
0.56845 co-occurrences
悦yuè
0.5002,068 co-occurrences
琪qí
0.49921 co-occurrences
桦huà
0.46811 co-occurrences
毅yì
0.4602,424 co-occurrences
钧jūn
0.458904 co-occurrences
鸣míng
0.4451,298 co-occurrences
伟wěi
0.4422,086 co-occurrences
灿càn
0.437472 co-occurrences
谅liàng
0.437434 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (8)

暗渡陈仓àndùchéncāngHSK 7+

short for 明修棧道,暗渡陳倉/明修栈道,暗渡陈仓 (míngxiūzhàndào, àndùchéncāng, “to do one thing under cover of another”)

phrase
陈陈相因chénchénxiāngyīnHSK 7+

to become stagnant or obsolete due to rigid adherence to tradition; to be devoid of any innovation

phrase
陈词滥调chéncílàndiàoHSK 7+

old words and hackneyed talk; clichés; platitudes

phrase
陈规陋习chénguīlòuxíHSK 7+

outdated and objectionable rules and customs

phrase
陈桥兵变chén qiáo bīng biànHSK 7+

the military revolt of 960 that led Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤|赵匡胤 to found the Song dynasty

phrase
乏善可陈fáshànkěchénHSK 7+

to have nothing notable or praiseworthy

phrase
推陈出新tuīchénchūxīnHSK 7+

to get rid of the old and bring forth the new

phrase
新陈代谢xīnchén dàixièHSK 7+

metabolism; replacement of the old with the new

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

陈字由7笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

chén zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "陈" consists of seven strokes and has a very ingenious structure.

東森新聞Feb 2026

悚!知名餐厅女员工陈尸冰柜 生前欠债、心情低落

悚 ! zhī míng cān tīng nǚ yuán gōng chén shī bīng guì shēng qián qiàn zhài , xīn qíng dī luò

Scary! Chen Shi Freezer, a female employee of a well-known restaurant, owed debts and was depressed during her lifetime

三立新聞網Feb 2026

港男陈尸五星饭店 房内留心酸字条死因曝

gǎng nán chén shī wǔ xīng fàn diàn fáng nèi liú xīn suān zì tiáo sǐ yīn pù

Hong Kong man Chen Shi five-star hotel pay attention to the sour note in the room The cause of death was exposed

LtnFeb 2026

懒理陈佩琪酸“单身狗” 赖清德合体小英再晒毛小...

lǎn lǐ chén pèi 琪 suān dān shēn gǒu lài qīng dé gě tǐ xiǎo yīng zài shài máo xiǎo . . .

Lazy Chen Peiqi acid "single dog" Lai Qingde combined Xiaoying to dry her hair again...

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

小江蕙81岁母亲初二离世!陈思安忍3天痛揭噩耗:爸妈天上团聚了

xiǎo jiāng 蕙 8 1 suì mǔ qīn chū èr lí shì ! chén sī ān rěn 3 tiān tòng jiē è hào : bà mā tiān shàng tuán jù le

Xiao Jianghui's 81-year-old mother passed away on the second day of junior high school! Chen Si'an endured for 3 days to reveal the bad news: his parents were reunited in heaven

Hk01.comFeb 2026

中年4丨可岚陈逸璇Rock爆造型突破自己 许美琪由朝喊...

zhōng nián 4 丨 kě 岚 chén yì 璇 R o c k bào zào xíng tū pò zì jǐ xǔ měi 琪 yóu cháo hǎn . . .

Middle-aged 4丨 Kelan Chen Yixuan's Rock style broke through herself Xu Meiqi shouted by the court...

Tatoeba

我开始怀疑他陈述的准确性。

Wǒ kāishǐ huáiyí tā chénshù de zhǔnquèxìng.

I began to doubt the accuracy of his statement.

Tatoeba

我想撤回我之前的陈述。

Wǒ xiǎng chèhuí wǒ zhīqián de chénshù.

I would like to retract my previous statement.

Tatoeba

她不仅没责怪他,反而陈赞他。

Tā bù jǐn méi zéguài tā, fǎn'ér chén zàn tā.

It wasn't just that she didn't blame him - she actually praised the guy.

Tatoeba

这里面装满了陈年葡萄酒和肥美的鹿肉。

Zhèlǐ miàn zhuāngmǎn le chénnián pútaojiǔ hé féiměi de lùròu.

They are filled with old wine and rich venison.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced chén

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 陈 (chén) mean in Chinese?
陈 (chén) primarily means "chen (c. 1045 – 479 bc), a zhou dynasty state." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #525 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 陈 have?
陈 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 陈?
The radical associated with 陈 is 阝 (mound). This radical appears in many characters related to mound.
What are the components of 陈?
陈 is composed of: 阝 (structural), 东 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰阝东 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 陈?
Common words with 陈 include: 陈述 (chén shù, "to state"); 陈年 (chén nián, "(of wine) aged"); 陈词滥调 (chén cí làn diào, "cliché"); 陈旧 (chén jiù, "old-fashioned"); 新陈代谢 (xīn chén dài xiè, "metabolism (biology)"). There are over 94 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 陈 (chén)?
Several characters share the pronunciation chén: 沉 (to submerge), 晨 (morning), 臣 (state official or subject in dynastic China), 尘 (dust), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 陈 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 陈 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 陈 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.