珊 (shān): coral

珊 (shān) is a Chinese character meaning “coral.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 王 (semantic) and 册 (phonetic). It ranks #2222 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 珊 jade. Its radical form 王 (jade) appears in many related characters such as 现 (xiàn, to appear), 球 (qiú, ball used for playing games (variant of 球)), 环 (huán, ring).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 王 jade9 strokesFrequency #2222王 semantic 册 phonetic

Definitions

coral

Etymology & Origin

珊

pictophoneticjade

Decomposition: ⿰王册 (layout: left-right)

Components:王semantic 册phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 珊 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
苏珊proper-noun	sū shān	Susan (name)
珊瑚noun	shān hú	coral
卡珊德拉	kǎ shān dé lā	Cassandra (given name)
珊瑚礁noun	shān hú jiāo	coral reef
关颖珊	guān yǐng shān	Michelle Kwan (1980-), former American figure skater, Olympic medalist
萨珊王朝	sà shān wáng cháo	Sassanid Empire of Persia (c. 2nd-7th century AD)
苏珊·波伊尔	sū shān · bō yī ěr	Susan Boyle (1961-), competitor in UK reality TV competition
李丽珊	lǐ lì shān	Lee Lai-Shan (1970-), former windsurfing world champion from Hong Kong
夜阑珊	yè lán shān	late at night
红珊瑚	hóng shān hú	red coral
草珊瑚noun	cǎo shān hú	Sarcandra glabra (botany)
贵珊瑚	guì shān hú	precious coral
阑珊verb	lán shān	coming to an end
珊卓	shān zhuó	Sandra (name)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

珊 appears in 14 compound words: 21 as the first character, 36 as the last, and 43 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 珊 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

苏sū

0.54214 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们珊字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men shān zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "珊."

東方日報Apr 2026

蔡宛珊喜爱夏日赶住下水礼

Cài 宛 shān xǐ ài xià rì gǎn zhù xià shuǐ lǐ

Cai Wanshan loves summer and can’t wait to go swimming

NewtalkMar 2026

...贪污保护色!时代力量吁检调重启侯友宜、黄珊珊涉贪疑云调查

. . . tān wū bǎo hù sè ! shí dài lì liàng xū jiǎn diào chóng qǐ Hóu yǒu yí , huáng shān shān shè tān yí yún diào chá

...A smokescreen for corruption! The New Power Party urges prosecutors and investigators to reopen the probe into corruption allegations involving Hou You-yi and Huang Shan-shan

東方日報Feb 2026

赵慧珊靠艺术搵食有经济压力唔敢睇存款

zhào huì shān kào yì shù 搵 shí yǒu jīng jì yā lì 唔 gǎn 睇 cún kuǎn

Zhao Huishan makes a living through art; due to financial pressures, she doesn't dare to check her savings.

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

泰国斯米兰海底珊瑚礁缠“幽灵渔网” 潜水员清除逾2吨废弃...

tài guó sī mǐ lán hǎi de shān 瑚 jiāo chán yōu líng yú wǎng qián shuǐ yuán qīng chú yú 2 dūn fèi qì . . .

"Ghost nets" entangled in coral reefs off Thailand's Similan Islands; divers remove over 2 tons of abandoned...

NewsFeb 2026

【座标移动中】陈佩珊/会车

zuò biāo yí dòng zhōng chén pèi 珊 huì chē

[Coordinates moving] Chen Peishan/meeting car

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 王 (jade) component

理lǐ 球qiú 环huán 玩wán 玛mǎ 珍zhēn 瑞ruì 琳lín 珠zhū 琼qióng

Related Characters

现xiàn 球qiú 环huán 理lǐ 珍zhēn 班bān 玉yù 玩wán 王wáng 玻bō

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 珊 (shān) mean in Chinese?

珊 (shān) primarily means "coral." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2222 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 珊 have?

珊 is written with 9 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 珊?

The radical associated with 珊 is 王 (jade). This radical appears in many characters related to jade.

What are the components of 珊?

珊 is composed of: 王 (semantic), 册 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰王册 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 珊?

Common words with 珊 include: 苏珊 (sū shān, "Susan (name)"); 珊瑚 (shān hú, "coral"); 卡珊德拉 (kǎ shān dé lā, "Cassandra (given name)"); 珊瑚礁 (shān hú jiāo, "coral reef"); 关颖珊 (guān yǐng shān, "Michelle Kwan (1980-), former American figure skater, Olympic medalist"). There are over 14 compound words containing this character.

Is 珊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 珊 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 珊 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

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