荡 (dàng): to wash, to squander, to sweep away

荡 (dàng) is a Chinese character meaning “to wash.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (structural) and 汤 (structural). It ranks #1415 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 荡 hot water 汤 wiping out plant life 艹; 汤 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to wash
  2. to squander
  3. to sweep away

Etymology & Origin

荡

ideographicHot water 汤 wiping out plant life 艹; 汤 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿱艹汤 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
荡妇noundàng fùprostitute
游荡verbyóu dàngto wander
淫荡adjectiveyín dàngloose in morals
放荡adjectivefàng dànglicentious
脑震荡nounnǎo zhèn dàng(med.) cerebral concussion
扫荡verbsǎo dàng(military) to mop up
晃荡verbhuàng dangto rock
空荡荡adjectivekōng dàng dàngempty
浪荡adjectivelàng dàngto loiter
动荡verbdòng dàngvariant of 動蕩|动荡
倾家荡产phraseqīng jiā dàng chǎnto lose a family fortune (idiom)
震荡verbzhèn dàngto shake up
荡秋千dàng qiū qiānto swing (on a swing)
回荡verbhuí dàngto resound
飘荡verbpiāo dàngto drift
58
Total compounds
17
As first character
62
As last character
21
As middle character

荡 appears in 58 compound words: 17 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 21 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 荡 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

扫sǎo
0.6792,330 co-occurrences
漾yàng
0.584212 co-occurrences
振zhèn
0.5452,056 co-occurrences
闯chuǎng
0.517264 co-occurrences
震zhèn
0.501797 co-occurrences
动dòng
0.4975,088 co-occurrences
芳fāng
0.49410 co-occurrences
雁yàn
0.484306 co-occurrences
飘piāo
0.481148 co-occurrences
芦lú
0.455178 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (9)

荡气回肠dàng qì huí chángHSK 7+

heart-rending (drama, music, poem etc); deeply moving

phrase
荡然无存dàngránwúcúnHSK 7+

to completely disappear or be destroyed and no longer exist

phrase
浩浩荡荡hàohàodàngdàngHSK 7+

torrential; vast and mighty

adjective
回肠荡气huí cháng dàng qìHSK 7+

soul-stirring (of drama, poem or artwork); heart-rending; deeply moving

phrase
空空荡荡kōng kōng dàng dàngHSK 7+

deserted

phrase
脑力激荡nǎo lì jī dàngHSK 7+

to brainstorm

phrase
倾家荡产qīngjiādàngchǎnHSK 7+

to exhaust all of a family's financial resources; to break the bank; to bring a family to ruin

phrase
心荡神驰xīn dàng shén chíHSK 7+

to be infatuated with

phrase
放荡不羁fàngdàng bùjīHSK 7+

unconventional and unrestrained; wanton and unrestrained; dissolute

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

荡字由9笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

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

The character "荡" consists of nine strokes and has a very ingenious structure.

風傳媒Mar 2026

台股高档震荡怎么买?3月债券ETF除息17档比一比....

tái gǔ gāo dàng zhèn dàng zěn má mǎi ? 3 yuè zhài quàn E T F chú xī 1 7 dàng bǐ yī bǐ . . . .

How to buy high-end shocks in Taiwan stocks? March bond ETF ex-dividend 17 levels to one....

WorldjournalFeb 2026

波斯荣光与地缘棋局 伊朗在动荡中的求生之路

bō sī róng guāng yǔ dì yuán qí jú yī lǎng zài dòng dàng zhōng de qiú shēng zhī lù

Persian glory and geopolitical chess game Iran's path to survival in turmoil

中国军网Feb 2026

...界】习近平:以中德关系的稳定性和活力为动荡世界谋大同

. . . jiè xí jìn píng : yǐ zhōng dé guān xì de wěn dìng xìng hé huó lì wéi dòng dàng shì jiè móu dà tóng

... Xi Jinping: Seek unity in a turbulent world with the stability and vitality of Sino-German relations

TvbsFeb 2026

...+血月”3大凶相夹击!命理师示警:恐有震荡流血灾难

. . . xiě yuè 3 dà xiōng xiāng jiā jī ! mìng lǐ shī shì jǐng : kǒng yǒu zhèn dàng liú xiě zāi nán

...+ Blood Moon" 3 fierce attacks! Numerologists warn: There may be shocks and bloodshed disasters

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

川普施压伊朗恐有反效果 使中东陷入新动荡

chuān pǔ shī yā yī lǎng kǒng yǒu fǎn xiào guǒ shǐ zhōng dōng xiàn rù xīn dòng dàng

Trump's pressure on Iran may have the opposite effect and plunge the Middle East into new turmoil

Tatoeba

汤姆感觉手机震荡了。

Tāng mǔ gǎnjué shǒujī zhèndàng le.

Tom felt his phone vibrate.

Tatoeba

地狱空空荡荡,魔鬼都在人间。

Dìyù kōngkōng-dàngdàng, móguǐ dōu zài rénjiān.

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here!

Tatoeba

柳枝在微风中轻轻荡悠。

Liǔ zhī zài wēifēng zhōng qīngqīng dàng yōu.

The willow branches swayed gently in the breeze.

Tatoeba

一支大军正浩浩荡荡地行进着。

Yī zhī dàjūn zhèng hàohàodàngdàng de xíngjìn zhe.

A large army is proudly proceeding.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced dàng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 荡 (dàng) mean in Chinese?
荡 (dàng) primarily means "to wash." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1415 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 荡 have?
荡 is written with 9 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 荡?
The radical associated with 荡 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 荡?
荡 is composed of: 艹 (structural), 汤 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹汤 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 荡?
Common words with 荡 include: 荡妇 (dàng fù, "prostitute"); 游荡 (yóu dàng, "to wander"); 淫荡 (yín dàng, "loose in morals"); 放荡 (fàng dàng, "licentious"); 脑震荡 (nǎo zhèn dàng, "(med.) cerebral concussion"). There are over 58 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 荡 (dàng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dàng: 当 ((onom.) dong), 党 (party), 档 ((bound form) shelves (for files)), 挡 (to resist). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 荡 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 荡 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 荡 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.