凤 (fèng): phoenix

凤 (fèng) is a Chinese character meaning “phoenix.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 几 (structural) and 又 (semantic). It ranks #1494 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 凤 simplified form of 鳥 bird. Its radical form 几 (table) appears in many related characters such as 几 (jǐ, how many), 凭 (píng, to lean against), 凡 (fán, ordinary).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. phoenix

Etymology & Origin

凤

pictophoneticsimplified form of 鳥 bird

Decomposition: ⿵几又 (layout: surround-from-top)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
凤凰nounfèng huángphoenix
凤尾鱼nounfèng wěi yúanchovy
凤梨nounfèng lípineapple
金凤jīn fèngsee 金鳳區|金凤区
龙凤nounlóng fèngdragon and phoenix
凤仙花nounfèng xiān huābalsam
凤毛麟角phrasefèng máo lín jiǎolit. as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns (idiom)
来凤proper-nounlái fèngsee 來鳳縣|来凤县
龙飞凤舞phraselóng fēi fèng wǔflamboyant or bold cursive calligraphy (idiom)
龙凤呈祥phraselóng fèng chéng xiángthe dragon and phoenix are symbols of good fortune (idiom)
望女成凤wàng nǚ chéng fènglit. to hope one's daughter becomes a phoenix (idiom)
人中龙凤rén zhōng lóng fènga giant among men (idiom)
凤头百灵fèng tóu bǎi líng(bird species of China) crested lark (Galerida cristata)
金凤区jīn fèng qūJinfeng, a district of Yinchuan City 銀川市|银川市, Ningxia
认鸡作凤rèn jī zuò fèng(lit.) to mistake a chicken for a phoenix (idiom)
100
Total compounds
55
As first character
14
As last character
31
As middle character

凤 appears in 100 compound words: 55 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 31 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 凤 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

凰huáng
0.76614,539 co-occurrences
翔xiáng
0.5673,518 co-occurrences
鸣míng
0.5561,732 co-occurrences
藻zǎo
0.481792 co-occurrences
阁gé
0.4581,104 co-occurrences
瀚hàn
0.453364 co-occurrences
龙lóng
0.4502,964 co-occurrences
梨lí
0.445355 co-occurrences
冈gāng
0.442653 co-occurrences
堂táng
0.44011 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (14)

凤毛麟角fèngmáo línjiǎoHSK 7+

rarity of rarities; rare treasures or talents; things that are few and far between

phrase
伏龙凤雏fú lóng fèng chú

hidden genius (idiom)

phrase
龙飞凤舞lóngfēifèngwǔHSK 7+

vivid and vigorous flourishes in calligraphy

phrase
龙凤呈祥lóngfèngchéngxiángHSK 7+

prosperity brought by the dragon and the phoenix

phrase
龙肝凤胆lóng gān fèng dǎnHSK 7+

rare food; ambrosia (delicacy)

phrase
攀龙附凤pānlóngfùfèngHSK 7+

to ingratiate oneself with powerful or influential people so as to acquire benefits

phrase
威凤一羽wēi fèng yī yǔHSK 7+

lit. one phoenix feather; fig. a glimpse that reveals the whole

phrase
颠鸾倒凤diānluándǎofèngHSK 7+

not in order; to make love

phrase
麟角凤觜lín jiǎo fèng zuǐHSK 7+

lit. qilin's horn, phoenix's mouth (idiom); fig. rara avis; rarity

phrase
龙驹凤雏lóng jū fèng chú

brilliant young man; talented young scholar

phrase
鸾飘凤泊luánpiāofèngbóHSK 7+

free and powerful calligraphic style; fine calligraphy; husband and wife separated; marriage broken up

phrase
鸾翔凤集luánxiáng fèngjíHSK 7+

gathering of talented people; galaxy of talent; super talented literary group

phrase

Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 凤.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习凤字需要反复练习,才能写得工整。

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

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

Hk01.comMar 2026

台东凤梨释迦推荐会在港举行 “吉祥果”口感蜜甜...

tái dōng fèng lí shì 迦 tuī jiàn huì zài gǎng jǔ háng jí xiáng guǒ kǒu gǎn mì tián . . .

Taitung Pineapple Shakya Recommendation Meeting was held in Hong Kong "Auspicious Fruit" has a sweet taste...

StheadlineFeb 2026

...律计小点 早午下午茶市都有 虾饺/烧卖/凤爪/叉烧包

. . . lǜ jì xiǎo diǎn zǎo wǔ xià wǔ chá shì dōu yǒu xiā jiǎo shāo mài fèng zhǎo chā shāo bāo

... Rhythm snacks There are shrimp dumplings/shumai/chicken feet/char siu buns in the morning, afternoon and afternoon tea market

Hk01.comFeb 2026

郭凤仪父处理女儿保单 官强调本案不存在“连坐...

guō fèng yí fù chǔ lǐ nǚ ér bǎo dān guān qiáng diào běn àn bù cún zài lián zuò . . .

Guo Fengyi's father dealt with his daughter's insurance policy The official emphasized that there was no "collective punishment...

Orientaldaily MyFeb 2026

黄友凤吁警遵循指示 勿以服装为由拒报案

huáng yǒu fèng xū jǐng zūn xún zhǐ shì wù yǐ fú zhuāng wéi yóu jù bào àn

Huang Youfeng called on the police to follow the instructions and not to refuse to report the case on the grounds of clothing

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

狮潭新凤吊桥旁 薰衣草全面盛开中

shī tán xīn fèng diào qiáo páng 薰 yī cǎo quán miàn shèng kāi zhōng

Lavender is in full bloom next to the Xinfeng Suspension Bridge in Shitan

Tatoeba

凤凰城是亚利桑那州的首府。

Fènghuángchéng shì Yàlìsāngnàzhōu de shǒufǔ.

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 又 (simplified form of 鳥 bird) component

几 Radical Family — Characters sharing the table radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced fèng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 凤 (fèng) mean in Chinese?
凤 (fèng) primarily means "phoenix." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1494 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 凤 and 帆?
凤 (fèng) and 帆 (fān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 几 vs 巾 (same 凡 component).
How many strokes does 凤 have?
凤 is written with 4 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 凤?
The radical associated with 凤 is 几 (table). This radical appears in many characters related to table.
What are the components of 凤?
凤 is composed of: 几 (structural), 又 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿵几又 with a surround-from-top layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 凤?
Common words with 凤 include: 凤凰 (fèng huáng, "phoenix"); 凤尾鱼 (fèng wěi yú, "anchovy"); 凤梨 (fèng lí, "pineapple"); 金凤 (jīn fèng, "see 金鳳區|金凤区"); 龙凤 (lóng fèng, "dragon and phoenix"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 凤 (fèng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation fèng: 风 (wind), 封 (to confer), 疯 (crazy), 丰 (luxuriant), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 凤 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 凤 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 凤 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.