帘 (lián): flag used as a shop sign, hanging screen or curtain

帘 (lián) is a Chinese character meaning “flag used as a shop sign.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 穴 (structural) and 巾 (structural). It ranks #2375 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 帘 a curtain 巾 at the entrance to a cave 穴. Its radical form 巾 (cloth) appears in many related characters such as 师 (shī, teacher), 帮 (bāng, to help), 常 (cháng, always).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. flag used as a shop sign
  2. hanging screen or curtain

Etymology & Origin

帘

ideographicA curtain 巾 at the entrance to a cave 穴

Decomposition: ⿱穴巾 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
窗帘nounchuāng liánwindow curtains
帘子nounlián zicurtain
眼帘nounyǎn liáneyes (in literature)
映入眼帘yìng rù yǎn lián(idiom) to greet the eye
帘布lián bùcord fabric used in vehicle tires
垂帘听政phrasechuí lián tīng zhènglit. to govern from behind the curtain
卷帘门juǎn lián ménvariant of 捲簾門|卷帘门
水帘洞shuǐ lián dòngcave with a waterfall at its mouth
酒帘nounjiǔ liánwine shop sign
卷帘juǎn liánroller shutter
帘幕lián mùhanging screen
帐帘zhàng liándrapery
浴帘nounyù liánshower curtain
13
Total compounds
23
As first character
54
As last character
23
As middle character

帘 appears in 13 compound words: 23 as the first character, 54 as the last, and 23 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 帘 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

窗chuāng
0.567449 co-occurrences
垂chuí
0.520280 co-occurrences
遮zhē
0.45782 co-occurrences
听tīng
0.454150 co-occurrences
珠zhū
0.451242 co-occurrences
钩gōu
0.41222 co-occurrences
帷wéi
0.40710 co-occurrences
浴yù
0.40136 co-occurrences
挂guà
0.40050 co-occurrences
毯tǎn
0.39818 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

垂帘听政chuíliántīngzhèngHSK 7+

(of female royal members, e.g. empress or empress dowager) to rule in place of a monarch; to serve as regent

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个帘字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

zhè gě lián zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .

The character "帘" had different meanings in ancient Chinese.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

平江路上,银幕里的苏州映入眼帘。

píng jiāng lù shàng , yín mù lǐ de sū zhōu yìng rù yǎn lián .

On Pingjiang Road, the Suzhou depicted on the silver screen comes into view.

少数派Aug 2026

邀请朋友来家里时也尴尬:明明是白天,想找个下饭综艺却得先拉窗帘,体验实在不佳。

yāo qǐng péng yǒu lái jiā lǐ shí yě gān gà : míng míng shì bái tiān , xiǎng zhǎo gè xià fàn zèng yì què dé xiān lā chuāng lián , tǐ yàn shí zài bù jiā .

It’s also awkward when I invite friends over: even though it’s broad daylight, I have to close the curtains just to find a variety show to watch while we eat—it’s really not a great experience.

爱范儿Jul 2026

灯光、窗帘和门锁按照预设规则运转,Siri 只是多种控制方式的其一。

dēng guāng , chuāng lián hé mén suǒ àn zhào yù shè guī zé yùn zhuǎn , S i r i zhī shì duō zhǒng kòng zhì fāng shì de qí yī .

The lights, curtains, and door locks operate according to preset rules, and Siri is just one of several ways to control them.

SmzdmMar 2026

...6年手把手教你怎么选适合高端场景的电动窗帘!

. . . 6 nián shǒu bǎ shǒu jiào nǐ zěn má xuǎn shì gě gāo duān chǎng jǐng de diàn dòng chuāng lián !

...6 years of step-by-step guidance on how to choose electric curtains for high-end settings!

東方日報Feb 2026

京都浴屏设计独特 告别传统浴帘缺点

jīng dōu yù bǐng shè jì dú tè gào bié chuán tǒng yù lián quē diǎn

Kyoto's bath screen design is unique, say goodbye to the shortcomings of traditional shower curtains

Tatoeba

一座岛屿映入眼帘。

Yī zuò dǎoyǔ yìngrùyǎnlián.

An island came in sight.

Tatoeba

当我们走到转角处,湖就映入了眼帘。

Dāng wǒmen zǒu dào zhuǎnjiǎo chǔ, hú jiù yìngrù le yǎnlián.

As we went around the corner, the lake came into view.

Tatoeba

因为窗帘闭上了,所以无法望进里面。

Yīnwèi chuānglián bìshang le, suǒyǐ wúfǎ wàng jìn lǐ miàn.

I can't see in because the curtains are closed.

Tatoeba

我换了窗帘后,房间看起来不同了。

Wǒ huàn le chuānglián hòu, fángjiān kànqǐlai bù tóng le.

The room looks different after I've changed the curtains.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced lián

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 帘 (lián) mean in Chinese?
帘 (lián) primarily means "flag used as a shop sign." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2375 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 帘 have?
帘 is written with 8 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 帘?
The radical associated with 帘 is 巾 (cloth). This radical appears in many characters related to cloth.
What are the components of 帘?
帘 is composed of: 穴 (structural), 巾 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱穴巾 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 帘?
Common words with 帘 include: 窗帘 (chuāng lián, "window curtains"); 帘子 (lián zi, "curtain"); 眼帘 (yǎn lián, "eyes (in literature)"); 映入眼帘 (yìng rù yǎn lián, "(idiom) to greet the eye"); 帘布 (lián bù, "cord fabric used in vehicle tires"). There are over 13 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 帘 (lián)?
Several characters share the pronunciation lián: 联 (connect, unite), 连 (to connect, even), 脸 (face), 练 (to practice), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 帘 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 帘 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 帘 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.