论 (lùn): opinion, view, theory, doctrine, to discuss, to talk about

论 (lùn) is a Chinese character meaning “opinion.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 讠 (structural) and 仑 (structural). It ranks #205 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 论 speech 讠 that explains the logic 仑; 仑 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 讠 (speech) appears in many related characters such as 认 (rèn, to recognize, to admit), 记 (jì, to remember, to record), 识 (shí, to know, knowledge).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. opinion
  2. view
  3. theory
  4. doctrine
  5. to discuss
  6. to talk about

Etymology & Origin

论

ideographicSpeech 讠 that explains the logic 仑; 仑 also provides the pronunciation

Decomposition: ⿰讠仑 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 论

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
讨论verbtǎo lùnto discuss4
无论conjunctionwú lùnno matter what or how4
谈论verbtán lùnto discuss6
理论noun/verblǐ lùntheory5
不论conjunctionbù lùnwhatever4
评论verb/nounpíng lùnto comment on6
结论nounjié lùnconclusion5
论文nounlùn wénpaper5
争论verbzhēng lùnto argue6
议论verb/nounyì lùnto comment6
论坛nounlùn tánforum (for discussion)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
无论如何phrasewú lùn rú hé(idiom) whatever the case
辩论verbbiàn lùndebate
言论nounyán lùnexpression of opinion
定论noundìng lùnfinal conclusion
推论verbtuī lùnto infer
相提并论phrasexiāng tí bìng lùnto discuss two disparate things together (idiom)
评论家nounpíng lùn jiācritic
舆论nounyú lùnpublic opinion
论点nounlùn diǎnargument
无神论wú shén lùnatheism
讨论会nountǎo lùn huìsymposium
论据nounlùn jùgrounds (for an argument)
论证nounlùn zhèngto prove a point
谬论nounmiù lùnmisconception
进化论nounjìn huà lùntheory of evolution
102
Total compounds
20
As first character
75
As last character
6
As middle character

论 appears in 102 compound words: 20 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 6 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 论 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

讨tǎo
0.67039,865 co-occurrences
坛tán
0.63112,725 co-occurrences
舆yú
0.6129,068 co-occurrences
评píng
0.57557,480 co-occurrences
理lǐ
0.56290,054 co-occurrences
辩biàn
0.52911,567 co-occurrences
无wú
0.49722,720 co-occurrences
争zhēng
0.47111,382 co-occurrences
言yán
0.45319,548 co-occurrences
结jié
0.45115,318 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (24)

不刊之论bùkānzhīlùnHSK 6+

indisputable statement; unalterable truth; irrefutable argument

phrase
不易之论bùyìzhīlùnHSK 4+

perfectly sound proposition; undeniable truth; irrefutable argument

phrase
成败论人chéng bài lùn rénHSK 4+

to judge people based on their success or failure (idiom)

phrase
持平之论chí píng zhī lùnHSK 4+

fair argument; unbiased view

phrase
盖棺定论gàiguāndìnglùnHSK 7+

to judge the accomplishments and faults of a person after their death; to reach a final decision or conclusion

phrase
盖棺论定gàiguānlùndìngHSK 7+

to judge the accomplishments and faults of a person after their death; to reach a final decision or conclusion

phrase
概而不论gài ér bù lùnHSK 4+

fuzzy about the details

phrase
高谈阔论gāotánkuòlùnHSK 6+

discuss freely; to indulge in loud and empty talk; to talk volubly or bombastically

phrase
格杀勿论géshāwùlùnHSK 7+

Use of deadly force authorized; it is permitted to kill (someone) without any legal consequence.

phrase
就事论事jiùshìlùnshìHSK 4+

to consider the matter in isolation; to judge the case as it stands (and not a specific individual)

phrase
另当别论lìngdāngbiélùnHSK 4+

to be discussed or dealt with another way

phrase
论功行赏lùn gōng xíng shǎngHSK 5+

(idiom) to assess merit and confer rewards

phrase

Showing 12 of 24 idioms containing 论.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

关于这个问题,大家展开了热烈的讨论。

Guānyú zhè gè wèntí, dàjiā zhǎnkāi le rèliè de tǎolùn.

Everyone had a heated discussion about this issue.

RfiFeb 2026

香港铁路引入中国标淮 可望减成本 惟评论忧质素及外国参与降

xiāng gǎng tiě lù yǐn rù zhōng guó biāo huái kě wàng jiǎn chéng běn 惟 píng lùn yōu zhì sù jí wài guó cān yǔ jiàng

The introduction of China's standard Huai River by Hong Kong Railway is expected to reduce costs, but commentators are worried about the quality and foreign participation

東方日報Feb 2026

正论:留港消费情已逝 出境外游按年升

zhèng lùn : liú gǎng xiāo fèi qíng yǐ shì chū jìng wài yóu àn nián shēng

Commentary: Consumption in Hong Kong is gone, and outbound travel is increasing year-on-year

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

经济日报社论/台美对等贸易协定的误判与修正

jīng jì rì bào shè lùn tái měi duì děng mào yì xié dìng de wù pàn yǔ xiū zhèng

Economic Daily Editorial/Misjudgment and Amendment of the Taiwan-US Reciprocal Trade Agreement

百度新闻Feb 2026

闪电评论|春晚机器人“天团”炸场,这股科技潮为何...

shǎn diàn píng lún chūn wǎn jī qì rén tiān tuán zhà chǎng , zhè gǔ kē jì cháo wéi hé . . .

The Spring Festival Gala Robotics Troupe is blowing up the stage, and why this wave of technology...

百度新闻Feb 2026

大年初一,浙大发顶刊论文:用人工智能为膜蛋白造“装..

dà nián chū yī , zhè dà fā dǐng kān lún wén yòng rén gōng zhì néng wéi mó dàn bái zào zhuāng . .

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhejiang University publishes a paper in a top-tier journal: Using artificial intelligence to "design" membrane proteins.

Tatoeba

无论怎样,都很讨厌,不是吗?

Wúlùn zěnyàng, dōu hěn tǎoyàn, bùshìma?

In any case, it's troublesome, isn't it?

Tatoeba

你们怎么得出这个结论的?

Nǐmen zěnme déchū zhège jiélùn de?

How do you come to that conclusion?

Tatoeba

你为什么要和经理争论?

Nǐ wèishénme yào hé jīnglǐ zhēnglùn?

Why are you arguing with the manager?

Tatoeba

你喜欢讨论建筑,不是吗?

Nǐ xǐhuan tǎolùn jiànzhù, bù shì ma?

You like to talk about architecture, don't you?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced lùn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 论 (lùn) mean in Chinese?
论 (lùn) primarily means "opinion." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #205 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 论 have?
论 is written with 6 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 论?
The radical associated with 论 is 讠 (speech). This radical appears in many characters related to speech.
What are the components of 论?
论 is composed of: 讠 (structural), 仑 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰讠仑 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 论?
Common words with 论 include: 讨论 (tǎo lùn, "to discuss"); 无论 (wú lùn, "no matter what or how"); 谈论 (tán lùn, "to discuss"); 理论 (lǐ lùn, "theory"); 无论如何 (wú lùn rú hé, "(idiom) whatever the case"). There are over 102 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 论 (lùn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation lùn: 伦 (human relationship), 轮 (wheel), 抡 (to swing (one's arms, a heavy object)). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 论 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 论 and the traditional form is 論.

Practice writing 论 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.