(chuàng): to initiate, to create, to achieve (sth for the first time)

(chuàng) is a Chinese character meaning “to initiate.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (phonetic) and (semantic). It ranks #635 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, knife. Its radical form (knife) appears in many related characters such as (fēn, to divide), (bié, to leave), (dào, to reach).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to initiate
  2. to create
  3. to achieve (sth for the first time)

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticknife

Decomposition: ⿰仓刂 (layout: left-right)

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
verbchuàng zàoto create5
noun/verbchuàng yìcreative6
verb/nounchuàng zuòto create5
verb/nounchuàng xīnto bring forth new ideas5
verbchuàng jiànto found6
verbchuàng lìto establish6
verbkāi chuàngto initiate6
verbchuàng bànto establish6
verbchuàng yèto begin an undertaking5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
chuāng shāngwound
chuàng zào lìingenuity
chuàng zào xìngcreativeness
chuàng shǐ réncreator
zhòng chuāngto inflict heavy losses
chuàng zào zhěcreator
chuāng kǒuwound
chuàng xiàto establish
chuàng shìthe creation of the world
dú chuàngto come up with (an innovation)
chuàng shǐto initiate
chuàng zuò zhěcreator
dú chuàng xìnginnovative
chuàng jiàn zhěfounder
shǒu chuàngto originate
89
Total compounds
70
As first character
15
As last character
16
As middle character

appears in 89 compound words: 70 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 16 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.

bàn
0.609114,120 co-occurrences
zuò
0.516280,146 co-occurrences
zào
0.515107,868 co-occurrences
shǐ
0.48894,998 co-occurrences
jiàn
0.481138,738 co-occurrences
kān
0.46124,846 co-occurrences
0.451103,200 co-occurrences
le
0.424148,128 co-occurrences
xīn
0.42097,535 co-occurrences
shāng
0.40910,692 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

chuāngjù-tòngshēnHSK 5+

to be badly injured and in great pain; to suffer from great loss and deep distress

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

办了自己的公司,开始了业之路。

Tā chuàngbàn le zìjǐ de gōngsī, kāishǐ le chuàngyè zhī lù.

He founded his own company and started his entrepreneurial journey.

WorldjournalFeb 2026

冬奥/男子4人雪车洛赫纳再登顶 马尔吉斯5金纪录

dōng ào nán zǐ 4 rén xuě chē 洛 hè nà zài dēng dǐng mǎ ěr jí sī chuàng 5 jīn jì lù

Winter Olympics/Men's 4-man bobsleigh, Lochner reached the top again, and Margis set a 5-gold record

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

港深科园冀2035前10万职位 马惟善:今...

gǎng shēn chuàng kē yuán 冀 2 0 3 5 qián chuàng 1 0 wàn zhí wèi mǎ 惟 shàn : jīn . . .

Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park hopes to create 100,000 jobs by 2035 Ma Weishan: Today...

Yahoo FinanceFeb 2026

...PINK官方YouTube订户破亿 艺人

. . . P I N K guān fāng Y o u T u b e dìng hù pò yì yì rén chuàng jǔ

... PINK's official YouTube subscribers exceed 100 million, an artist's initiative

百度新闻Feb 2026

美政府移民政策支持率新低 国土安全部发言人离职

měi zhèng fǔ yí mín zhèng cè zhī chí lǜ chuàng xīn dī guó tǔ ān quán bù fā yán rén chī zhí

U.S. government's immigration policy has record low approval ratings, DHS spokesman departs

百度新闻Feb 2026

2026年世界知识产权报告:新传播速度达历史新高

nián shì jiè zhī shí chǎn quán bào gào chuàng xīn chuán bō sù dù dá lì shǐ xīn gāo

World Intellectual Property Report 2026: Diffusion of innovations reaches record pace

Tatoeba

根据圣经记载,上帝用6天造了世界。

Gēnjù Shèngjīng jìzǎi, Shàngdì yòng 6 tiān chuàngzào le shìjiè.

According to the Bible, God made the world in six days.

Tatoeba

起初,神造了天地。

Qǐchū, shén chuàngzào le tiāndì.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Tatoeba

小人物同样可以造历史。

Xiǎorénwù tóngyàng kěyǐ chuàngzào lìshǐ.

Small timers can also create history.

Tatoeba

汤姆三年前作了那首歌。

Tāngmǔ sān nián qián chuàngzuò le nà shǒu gē.

Tom wrote that song three years ago.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced chuàng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 创 (chuàng) mean in Chinese?
创 (chuàng) primarily means "to initiate." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #635 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 创 and 枪?
创 (chuàng) and 枪 (qiāng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 刂 vs 木 (same 仓 component).
How many strokes does 创 have?
创 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 创?
The radical associated with 创 is 刂 (knife). This radical appears in many characters related to knife.
What are the components of 创?
创 is composed of: 仓 (phonetic), 刂 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰仓刂 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 创?
Common words with 创 include: 创造 (chuàng zào, "to create"); 创意 (chuàng yì, "creative"); 创伤 (chuāng shāng, "wound"); 创作 (chuàng zuò, "to create"); 创新 (chuàng xīn, "to bring forth new ideas"). There are over 89 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 创 (chuàng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation chuàng: 窗 (window), 床 (bed), 幢 (banner), 闯 (to rush). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 创 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 创 and the traditional form is 剏.

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.