莲 (lián): lotus
莲 (lián) is a Chinese character meaning “lotus.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 连 (phonetic). It ranks #1820 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 莲 flower. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 菜 (cài, vegetable, dish).
Definitions
- lotus
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 莲 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 莲花noun | lián huā | lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn, among others) |
| 莲蓬头noun | lián péng tóu | showerhead |
| 莲藕noun | lián ǒu | lotus root |
| 马蹄莲 | mǎ tí lián | calla |
| 睡莲noun | shuì lián | water lily |
| 榴莲 | liú lián | durian fruit |
| 白莲教proper-noun | bái lián jiào | White Lotus society |
| 西番莲noun | xī fān lián | passion flower |
| 白莲noun | bái lián | white lotus (flower) |
| 以法莲proper-noun | yǐ fǎ lián | Ephraim (city) |
| 曼荷莲女子学院 | màn hé lián nǚ zǐ xué yuàn | see 曼荷蓮學院|曼荷莲学院 |
| 妙法莲华经 | miào fǎ lián huá jīng | The Lotus Sutra |
| 莲都区 | lián dū qū | Liandu, a district of Lishui City 麗水市|丽水市, Zhejiang |
| 莲花白noun | lián huā bái | (dialect) cabbage |
| 易初莲花 | yì chū lián huā | Lotus (department store chain) |
莲 appears in 51 compound words: 39 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 25 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 莲 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
莲花出淤泥而不染。
Lián huā chū yūní ér bù rǎn.
The lotus emerges from mud unsoiled.
花莲鲤鱼潭9岁男童溺毙 纵管处:与地方政府共...
huā lián 鲤 yú tán suì nán tóng 溺 bì zòng guǎn chǔ yǔ dì fāng zhèng fǔ gòng . . .
9-Year-Old Boy Drowns in Liyu Lake, Hualien Central Mountain Range National Park Administration: Collaborating with Local Authorities...
8岁男童命丧花莲鲤鱼潭!家属控快艇“船尾浪”酿祸 交通部...
suì nán tóng mìng sāng huā lián 鲤 yú tán ! jiā shǔ kòng kuài tǐng chuán wěi làng niàng huò jiāo tōng bù . . .
8-Year-Old Boy Dies in Hualien's Carp Pond! Family Blames Speedboat's "Wake" for Tragedy; Ministry of Transportation...
河川地生长香氛植物“石荠薴” 花莲光复乡民尝试复育
hé chuān dì shēng cháng xiāng fēn zhí wù shí 荠 薴 huā lián guāng fù xiāng mín cháng shì fù yù
Riverbank Land Cultivates Fragrant Plant "Cudweed" Residents of Guangfu Township, Hualien, Attempt to Restore Habitat
鱼潭翻船9岁童溺毙!傅崐萁:花莲无管辖权 轰中央卸责忙切割
yú tán fān chuán suì tóng 溺 bì ! fù 崐 萁 huā lián wú guǎn xiá quán hōng zhōng yāng xiè zé máng qiē gē
Boat Capsizes in Fish Pond, 9-Year-Old Boy Drowns! Fu Kun-chi: Hualien Has No Jurisdiction, Slams Central Government for Shifting Blame and Cutting Ties
光复救灾“替女童戴帽”!暖心士官长重回花莲:妹妹长高了
guāng fù jiù zāi tì nǚ tóng dài mào ! nuǎn xīn shì guān cháng chóng huí huā lián mèi mèi cháng gāo le
Rescue Mission in Guangfu: "Putting a Hat on a Little Girl"! Heartwarming Sergeant Returns to Hualien: "Little Sister Has Grown Taller"
这个淋浴的莲蓬头太低了。
Zhège línyù de liánpengtóu tài dī le.
The shower head in this shower is too low.
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.
我的生日是六月十二日。玛格达莲娜和我同年同日生。
Wǒ de shēngrì shì Liùyuè shí'èr rì. mǎ gé dá lián nà hé wǒ tóngnián tóngrì shēng.
My birthday is June 12. Magdalena was born on the same day and year as me.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 (flower) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 莲 (lián) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 莲 have?
What is the radical of 莲?
What are the components of 莲?
What are common words containing 莲?
What characters sound the same as 莲 (lián)?
Is 莲 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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