敛 (liǎn): (literary) to hold back, (literary) to restrain, to control (oneself), to collect, to gather
敛 (liǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) to hold back.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 佥 (phonetic) and 攵 (semantic). It ranks #2706 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 敛 strike. Its radical form 攵 (rap) appears in many related characters such as 放 (fàng, to put, to release), 教 (jiào, (bound form) to teach), 收 (shōu, to receive).
Definitions
- (literary) to hold back
- (literary) to restrain
- to control (oneself)
- to collect
- to gather
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 敛 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 收敛verb | shōu liǎn | to dwindle |
| 敛财verb | liǎn cái | to accumulate wealth |
| 收敛级数 | shōu liǎn jí shù | convergent series (math.) |
| 征敛无度 | zhēng liǎn wú dù | to extort taxes excessively |
| 收敛性noun | shōu liǎn xìng | convergence (math.) |
| 收敛序列 | shōu liǎn xù liè | convergent sequence (math.) |
| 内敛adjective | nèi liǎn | introverted |
| 横征暴敛 | héng zhēng bào liǎn | to tax by force and extort levies (idiom) |
| 裒敛无厌 | póu liǎn wú yàn | to accumulate wealth without satisfaction |
| 敛步 | liǎn bù | (literary) to slow down one's steps |
| 敛钱 | liǎn qián | to collect money |
| 敛巴 | liǎn ba | (dialect) to gather up |
| 锋芒内敛 | fēng máng nèi liǎn | to be talented yet self-effacing (idiom) |
| 收敛锋芒 | shōu liǎn fēng máng | to draw in one's claws |
| 征敛 | zhēng liǎn | to extort taxes |
敛 appears in 19 compound words: 32 as the first character, 37 as the last, and 32 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 敛 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
敛字在日常生活中使用频率较低。
liǎn zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ jiào dī .
The character "敛" is not commonly used in everyday life.
...能支撑淡季 台手机出货跌幅2Q26有望收敛
. . . néng zhī chēng dàn jì tái shǒu jī chū huò diē fú 2 Q 2 6 yǒu wàng shōu liǎn
...to weather the off-season; the decline in Taiwanese smartphone shipments is expected to slow in 2Q26
台积电涨35元 台股涨势收敛拚站稳33000点
tái jī diàn zhǎng 3 5 yuán tái gǔ zhǎng shì shōu liǎn 拚 zhàn wěn 3 3 0 0 0 diǎn
TSMC Rises 35 New Taiwan Dollars; Taiwan Stock Market Gains Slow as Market Aims to Hold Above 33,000 Points
评析:Arm下场做晶片收敛生态系 聚焦CPU只赚名声不赚钱?
píng xī : A r m xià chǎng zuò jīng piàn shōu liǎn shēng tài xì jù jiāo C P U zhī zhuàn míng shēng bù zhuàn qián ?
Analysis: Is Arm's Entry into the Chip Market an Attempt to Consolidate Its Ecosystem? Is Focusing on CPUs Just a Way to Build a Reputation Without Making Money?
潘小涛宣布暂停专页:收敛谩罢,是香港言论生态的清醒回归
pān xiǎo tāo xuān bù zàn tíng zhuān xié : shōu liǎn 谩 bà , shì xiāng gǎng yán lùn shēng tài de qīng xǐng huí guī
Pan Xiaotao Announces Suspension of His Page: Curbing Abusive Language Marks a Sober Return to Hong Kong’s Discourse Landscape
〈台币〉贬势收敛收31.97元续写逾10个月新低 周线连...
tái bì biǎn shì shōu liǎn shōu 3 1 . 9 7 yuán xù xiě yú 1 0 gè yuè xīn dī zhōu xiàn lián . . .
〈New Taiwan Dollar〉Depreciation Slows, Closes at 31.97, Marking a New Low in Over 10 Months; Weekly...
日本人普遍很内敛。
Rìběnrén pǔbiàn hěn nèiliǎn.
Japanese people are generally very reserved.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 攵 (strike) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 敛 (liǎn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 敛 and 前?
How many strokes does 敛 have?
What is the radical of 敛?
What are the components of 敛?
What are common words containing 敛?
What characters sound the same as 敛 (liǎn)?
Is 敛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 敛 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.