(chéng): to succeed, to finish, to complete, to accomplish, to become, to turn into

(chéng) is a Chinese character meaning “to succeed.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #59 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to succeed
  2. to finish
  3. to complete
  4. to accomplish
  5. to become
  6. to turn into

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
verbchéng wéito become4
verb/adjectivechéng gōngto succeed4
verbbiàn chéngto change into3
verbwán chéngto complete3
verbzào chéngto bring about5
nounchéng yuánmember5
verb/adjectivechéng shúmature5
verbdàng chéngto consider as5
verbdá chéngto reach (an agreement)5
verbchéng zhǎngto mature5
nounchéng jìachievement3
verbchéng jiāoto complete a contract6
noun/verbchéng jiùaccomplishment5
verbzàn chéngto approve5
verbchéng lìto establish5
verb/nounchéng rénto reach adulthood5
verbzǔ chéngto form5
verbxíng chéngto form5
chéng qiān shàng wànlit. by the thousands and tens of thousands (idiom)6
nounchéng guǒresult5
nounchéng fèncomposition5
verb/noungòu chéngto constitute5
hé chéngto compose6
chéng niánto grow to adulthood5
nounchéng běn(manufacturing, production etc) costs5
nounwèi chéng nián rénminor (i.e. person under 18)6
nounchéng xiàoeffect6
verbshēng chéngto generate6
verb/adjective/particlebù chéngwon't do6
verbyǎng chéngto cultivate4
nounchéng yǔChinese set expression, typically of 4 characters, often alluding to a story or historical quotation6
100
Total compounds
84
As first character
15
As last character
1
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 84 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 1 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

gōng
0.632984,500 co-occurrences
wán
0.6221,023,151 co-occurrences
0.6111,722,624 co-occurrences
0.607299,954 co-occurrences
zào
0.565818,466 co-occurrences
xíng
0.556794,388 co-occurrences
0.501549,301 co-occurrences
shú
0.491110,748 co-occurrences
yuán
0.485596,526 co-occurrences
miào
0.48194 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (78)

bǎiliànchénggāngHSK 4+

to be forged in repeated struggles

phrase
bào chéng yī tuánHSK 5+

to band together; to gang up; to stick together

phrase
bō lán lǎo chéngHSK 7+

splendid and powerful (of story); majestic; awesome

phrase
bùchéngtǐtǒngHSK 5+

most improper; downright outrageous

phrase
chéng bài dé shīHSK 4+

lit. success and failure, the gains and losses (idiom); fig. to weigh up various factors

phrase
chéngbàilìdùnHSK 7+

success or failure; smoothness or setback

phrase
chéng bài lùn rénHSK 4+

to judge people based on their success or failure (idiom)

phrase
chéng gōng dà xuéHSK 4+

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), a public research university in Tainan, Taiwan

phrase
chénghétǐtǒngHSK 5+

what impropriety it is; what a scandal

phrase
ChéngjísīhánHSK 6+

Genghis Khan

chéngniánlěiyuèHSK 3+

over many years and months; year in, year out

phrase
chéngqiānchéngwànHSK 3+

by the thousands and tens of thousands; untold numbers; innumerable; thousands upon thousands

phrase

Showing 12 of 78 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

经过多年的努力,他终于为了一名优秀的医生。

Jīngguò duō nián de nǔlì, tā zhōngyú chéngwéi le yī míng yōuxiù de yīshēng.

After many years of effort, he finally became an excellent doctor.

百度新闻Feb 2026

...步行街被指写错北宋诗人名字,“晁冲之”写“..

. . . bù háng jiē bèi zhǐ xiě cuò běi sòng shī rén míng zì , 晁 chōng zhī xiě chéng . .

... Walking Street is accused of writing the name of a Northern Song poet wrongly, "Chao Chongzhi" is written as "...

百度新闻Feb 2026

科学内调美肤新刚需,肌原光以“产学研”硬实力登陆...

kē xué nèi diào chéng měi fū xīn gāng xū , jī yuán guāng yǐ chǎn xué yán yìng shí lì dēng lù . . .

Scientific internal adjustments become the new demand for skin beauty, the original light with "production, research and development" of hard power to land...

百度新闻Feb 2026

川AG大军注意!雅西高速都往西昌方向多路段车多缓..

chuān dà jūn zhù yì ! yǎ xī gāo sù chéng dū wǎng xī chāng fāng xiàng duō lù duàn chē duō huǎn . .

Attention all drivers on Sichuan AG license plates! Heavy traffic and slowdowns are reported on multiple sections of the Yaxi Expressway heading westbound from Chengdu toward Xichang.

百度新闻Feb 2026

我的新年“特供”丨订单翻倍!小碗梨春节假期“新宠..

wǒ de xīn nián tè gōng 丨 dìng shàn fān bèi ! xiǎo wǎn lí chéng chūn jié jiǎ qī xīn chǒng . .

My New Year's "Special Offer"丨Orders Double! Small Bowl Pears Become the "New Darling" of the Spring Festival Holiday...

百度新闻Feb 2026

...来,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到功..

. . . lái , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . .

Come, the Spring Festival is here! Shanghai Jing'an wishes you boundless energy and instant success.

Tatoeba

你赞还是反对这个计划?

Nǐ zànchéng háishi fǎnduì zhège jìhuà?

Are you for or against the plan?

Tatoeba

是什么时候完的?

Shì shénme shíhou wánchéng de?

When was it finished?

Tatoeba

她儿子为了什么?

Tā érzi chéngwéi le shénme?

What has become of her son?

Tatoeba

功完任务了吗?

Nǐ chénggōng wánchéng rènwu le ma?

Did you accomplish the task?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced chéng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 成 (chéng) mean in Chinese?
成 (chéng) primarily means "to succeed." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #59 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 成 have?
成 is written with 6 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 成?
The radical associated with 成 is 戈 (halberd). This radical appears in many characters related to halberd.
What are the components of 成?
成 is composed of: 丁 (structural), 戈 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰丁戈 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 成?
Common words with 成 include: 成为 (chéng wéi, "to become"); 成功 (chéng gōng, "to succeed"); 变成 (biàn chéng, "to change into"); 完成 (wán chéng, "to complete"); 造成 (zào chéng, "to bring about"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 成 (chéng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation chéng: 撑 (to support), 呈 (to present to a superior), 承 (Cheng (c. 2000 BC), third of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God), 诚 (honest), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 成 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 成 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.