殿 (diàn): palace hall

殿 (diàn) is a Chinese character meaning “palace hall.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 尸 (structural), 共 (structural) and 殳 (structural). It ranks #1545 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. palace hall

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
殿下noundiàn xiàYour Majesty (honorific)
宫殿noungōng diànpalace
神殿nounshén diànshrine
圣殿nounshèng diàntemple
殿堂noundiàn tángpalace
殿后verbdiàn hòuto bring up the rear
大殿noundà diànmain hall of a Buddhist temple
殿卫diàn wèifullback (sports)
殿宇noundiàn yǔ(literary) halls (of a palace or a temple)
正殿nounzhèng diànmain hall of a Buddhist temple
阎王殿proper-nounyán wáng diànYama's palace
无事不登三宝殿phrasewú shì bù dēng sān bǎo diànlit. one doesn't visit a temple without a cause (idiom)
太和殿proper-nountài hé diànHall of Supreme Harmony, the largest of the three halls that constitute the heart of the Outer Court of the Forbidden...
大雄宝殿noundà xióng bǎo diànHall of Great Strength, main hall of a Buddhist temple containing the main image of veneration 大雄
森罗宝殿sēn luó bǎo diànYama's palace
24
Total compounds
29
As first character
71
As last character
0
As middle character

殿 appears in 24 compound words: 29 as the first character, 71 as the last, and 0 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 殿 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

宫gōng
0.53111,672 co-occurrences
圣shèng
0.4908,428 co-occurrences
寝qǐn
0.473790 co-occurrences
阔kuò
0.4661,434 co-occurrences
御yù
0.4615,258 co-occurrences
檐yán
0.449846 co-occurrences
宝bǎo
0.4293,156 co-occurrences
奉fèng
0.4283,848 co-occurrences
堂táng
0.4287,186 co-occurrences
神shén
0.42210,870 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

大雄宝殿dàxióng bǎo diànHSK 7+

Mahavira Hall, the main hall in a Mahayana Buddhist temple

noun
森罗宝殿sēn luó bǎo diànHSK 7+

Yama's palace

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习殿字需要反复练习,才能写得工整。

xué xí diàn zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Mastering the character "殿" requires repeated practice to achieve neat and precise writing.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

其间融入原创宋代彩塑舞蹈,舞者水袖翩跹,再现圣母殿内侍女塑像仪态。

qí jiān róng rù yuán chuàng sòng dài cǎi sù wǔ dǎo , wǔ zhě shuǐ xiù 翩 跹 , zài xiàn shèng mǔ diàn nèi shì nǚ sù xiàng yí tài .

The performance incorporates an original dance inspired by Song Dynasty colored clay sculptures, with dancers’ flowing sleeves gracefully fluttering as they recreate the poise of the court ladies depicted in the statues inside the Shrine of the Virgin Mary.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

这里古殿层叠、鸱吻古朴,雄浑雅致的元代古建,透出东方古韵。

zhè lǐ gǔ diàn céng dié , 鸱 wěn gǔ pǔ , xióng hún yǎ zhì de yuán dài gǔ jiàn , tòu chū dōng fāng gǔ yùn .

Here, ancient halls rise in tiered layers, and the rustic roof finials of these majestic yet elegant Yuan Dynasty structures exude an ancient Eastern charm.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

“文艺轻骑”跨山海 惠民演出润城乡 让优质文艺走出殿堂、奔赴基层。

wén yì qīng qí kuà shān hǎi huì mín yǎn chū rùn chéng xiāng ràng yōu zhì wén yì zǒu chū diàn táng , bēn fù jī céng .

The “Cultural Light Cavalry” traverses mountains and seas, bringing performances that benefit the public to both urban and rural areas, taking high-quality cultural arts out of the halls and into the grassroots.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

玻州大旱98天 拉惹殿下率千人集体求雨

bō zhōu dà hàn 9 8 tiān lā rě diàn xià lǜ qiān rén jí tǐ qiú yǔ

After 98 Days of Severe Drought in Perlis, His Royal Highness the Raja Leads a Mass Rain-Praying Ceremony with a Thousand People

東方日報Mar 2026

甲一女排 沈岚轰22分 国际勇挫上季殿军KT

jiǎ yī nǚ pái 沈 岚 hōng 2 2 fēn guó jì yǒng cuò shàng jì diàn jūn K T

The first women's volleyball team Shen Lan scored 22 points and the international bravely defeated KT, the fourth place in the last season

Tatoeba

我为你的殿,心里焦急,如同火烧。

Wǒ wèi nǐ de diàn, xīnli jiāojí, rútóng huǒshāo.

Zeal for your house will consume me.

Tatoeba

他出生在一个宫殿里,那宫殿已经不存在了。

Tā chūshēng zài yī gè gōngdiàn lǐ, nà gōngdiàn yǐjīng bù cúnzài le.

He was born in a palace that isn't there any more.

Tatoeba

火星上的神殿饰有莲花。

Huǒxīng shàng de shéndiàn shì yǒu liánhuā.

The temples on Mars are decorated with lotus flowers.

Tatoeba

远离宫殿的北方及南方是平民、商人、工艺师傅和工人。

Yuǎnlí gōngdiàn de běifāng jí nánfāng shì píngmín, shāngrén, gōngyì shīfu hé gōngrén.

Farther from the palace and to its north and south were the commoners, merchants, artisans, and laborers.

Character Family

殳 Radical Family — Characters sharing the weapon radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced diàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 殿 (diàn) mean in Chinese?
殿 (diàn) primarily means "palace hall." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1545 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 殿 have?
殿 is written with 13 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 殿?
The radical associated with 殿 is 殳 (weapon). This radical appears in many characters related to weapon.
What are the components of 殿?
殿 is composed of: 尸 (structural), 共 (structural), 殳 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰⿸尸共殳 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 殿?
Common words with 殿 include: 殿下 (diàn xià, "Your Majesty (honorific)"); 宫殿 (gōng diàn, "palace"); 神殿 (shén diàn, "shrine"); 圣殿 (shèng diàn, "temple"); 殿堂 (diàn táng, "palace"). There are over 24 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 殿 (diàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation diàn: 点 (point, o'clock), 电 (lightning), 店 (shop), 典 (canon), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 殿 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 殿 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 殿 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.