(máng): awn (of cereals), arista (of grain), tip (of a blade)

(máng) is a Chinese character meaning “awn (of cereals).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #2195 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, grass. Its radical form (grass) appears in many related characters such as (huā, flower), (chá, tea), (cài, vegetable, dish).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. awn (of cereals)
  2. arista (of grain)
  3. tip (of a blade)

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticgrass

Decomposition: ⿱艹亡 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
guāng mángrays of light
máng guǒ(loanword) mango
fēng mángtip (of pencil, spear etc)
fēng máng bì lùto show off one's ability
máng cì zài bèifeeling brambles and thorns in one's back (idiom)
guāng máng wàn zhàng(idiom) boundless radiance
chū lù fēng mángfirst sign of budding talent
zhēn jiān r duì mài máng rsee 針尖對麥芒|针尖对麦芒[zhen1 jian1 dui4 mai4 mang2]
wàn zhàng guāng mángsee 光芒萬丈|光芒万丈[guang1 mang2 wan4 zhang4]
wǔ máng xīngfive-pointed star
fó lán máng yǔFlemish (language)
liù máng xīngsix-pointed star
ā máng ná(chemistry) (loanword) ammonal
máng zhòngMangzhong or Grain in Beard, 9th of the 24 solar terms 二十四節氣|二十四节气 6th-20th June
zhēn jiān duì mài mángsharply opposed to each other, with neither prepared to give an inch (idiom)
21
Total compounds
29
As first character
33
As last character
38
As middle character

appears in 21 compound words: 29 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 38 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

guāng
0.53229,772 co-occurrences
guǒ
0.47716,770 co-occurrences
fēng
0.4251,404 co-occurrences
0.4246,492 co-occurrences
shèng
0.3983,366 co-occurrences
pàn
0.3951,110 co-occurrences
zhàn
0.38672 co-occurrences
耀yào
0.3771,248 co-occurrences
0.3762,466 co-occurrences
tíng
0.3732,184 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

chū lù fēng mángHSK 7+

first sign of budding talent; to display one's ability for the first time

phrase
fēngmángbìlùHSK 7+

to fail to show restraint and display one's talent or vigour to the fullest extent

phrase
fēng máng nèi liǎnHSK 7+

to be talented yet self-effacing (idiom)

phrase
guāngmángwànzhàngHSK 7+

gloriously radiant; resplendent

phrase
mángcìzàibèiHSK 7+

to be jittery; to be on pins and needles

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个字在古汉语中有不同的含义。

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

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

I MobileMar 2026

赛博美学 冷酷锋尽显|OPPO K15 Pro 赛博光翼...

sài bó měi xué lěng kù fēng máng jǐn xiǎn O P P O K 1 5 P r o sài bó guāng yì . . .

Cyber Aesthetics: A Bold, Edgy Look | OPPO K15 Pro Cyber Wings...

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Mar 2026

以“身边案”教育“身边人” 西藏康司法之力守护藏东绿水青山

yǐ shēn biān àn jiào yù shēn biān rén xī zàng máng kāng sī fǎ zhī lì shǒu hù zàng dōng lǜ shuǐ qīng shān

Using "Local Cases" to Educate "Local People": The Judicial System in Mangkon, Tibet, Safeguards the Lush Mountains and Clear Waters of Eastern Tibet

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

广西融安苗族民众扮“蒿”送福闹新春

guǎng xī róng ān miáo zú mín zhòng bàn máng 蒿 sòng fú nào xīn chūn

The Miao people of Rong'an, Guangxi, dressed up as "Mangmu" to send blessings for the New Year

Tatoeba

她的眼睛闪烁着喜悦的光

Tā de yǎnjing shǎnshuò zhe xǐyuè de guāngmáng.

Her eyes were shining with joy.

Tatoeba

加热器发出美丽的橙色光

Jiārè qì fāchū měilì de chéngsè guāngmáng.

The heater is aglow with a beautiful orange color.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced máng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 芒 (máng) mean in Chinese?
芒 (máng) primarily means "awn (of cereals)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2195 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 芒 and 忘?
芒 (máng) and 忘 (wàng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 艹 vs 心 (same 亡 component).
How many strokes does 芒 have?
芒 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 芒?
The radical associated with 芒 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 芒?
芒 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 亡 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹亡 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 芒?
Common words with 芒 include: 光芒 (guāng máng, "rays of light"); 芒果 (máng guǒ, "(loanword) mango"); 锋芒 (fēng máng, "tip (of pencil, spear etc)"); 锋芒毕露 (fēng máng bì lù, "to show off one's ability"); 芒刺在背 (máng cì zài bèi, "feeling brambles and thorns in one's back (idiom)"). There are over 21 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 芒 (máng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation máng: 忙 (busy), 盲 (blind), 茫 (vast, with no clear boundary), 莽 ((bound form) dense growth of grass). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 芒 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 芒 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.