缮 (shàn): to repair, to mend, to rewrite

缮 (shàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to repair.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 纟 (semantic) and 善 (phonetic). It ranks #3677 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 缮 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 红 (hóng, red), 线 (xiàn, line, thread), 结 (jié, knot, result).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to repair
  2. to mend
  3. to rewrite

Etymology & Origin

缮

pictophoneticthread

Decomposition: ⿰纟善 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
修缮verbxiū shànto renovate
缮清shàn qīngto make a clean copy
缮写verbshàn xiěto copy
误缮wù shànto miswrite (while copying written material)
4
Total compounds
50
As first character
50
As last character
0
As middle character

缮 appears in 4 compound words: 50 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

少数派Sep 2026

目前空中宫殿正在修缮中,中国援建的第三个项目,只能在地上绕着看一圈,上不到顶部平台。

mù qián kōng zhōng gōng diàn zhèng zài xiū shàn zhōng , zhōng guó yuán jiàn de dì sān gè xiàng mù , zhī néng zài dì shàng rào zhe kàn yī quān , shàng bù dào dǐng bù píng tái .

The Palace in the Sky is currently undergoing renovations. As this is the third project supported by China, visitors can only walk around it at ground level; access to the top platform is not permitted.

少数派Aug 2026

接手一座破败的英伦酒店,白天修缮,晚上驱鬼。

jiē shǒu yī zuò pò bài de yīng lún jiǔ diàn , bái tiān xiū shàn , wǎn shàng qū guǐ .

Take over a run-down British hotel, spend the days renovating it, and spend the nights exorcising ghosts.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

中新社 记者 曾玥 摄 2022年起,中国文化遗产研究院承接舍利塔壁画保护修缮工作。

zhōng xīn shè jì zhě céng 玥 shè 2 0 2 2 nián qǐ , zhōng guó wén huà yí chǎn yán jiū yuàn chéng jiē shě lì tǎ bì huà bǎo hù xiū shàn gōng zuò .

Photo by Zeng Yue, China News Service. Starting in 2022, the China Cultural Heritage Research Institute has undertaken the conservation and restoration of the murals in the Stupa of the Buddha’s Relics.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

历经数百年风雨冲刷侵蚀,主体建筑早已损毁,仅存残基,开展系统性保护性修缮刻不容缓。

lì jīng shǔ bǎi nián fēng yǔ chōng shuā qīn shí , zhǔ tǐ jiàn zhù zǎo yǐ sǔn huǐ , jǐn cún cán jī , kāi zhǎn xì tǒng xìng bǎo hù xìng xiū shàn kè bù róng huǎn .

After centuries of exposure to wind and rain and erosion, the main structure has long since been destroyed, with only its foundations remaining; systematic conservation and restoration are urgently needed.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

经系统性保护修缮与整治提升 北京正阳门城楼重新向社会开放

jīng xì tǒng xìng bǎo hù xiū shàn yǔ zhěng zhì tí shēng běi jīng zhèng yáng mén chéng lóu chóng xīn xiàng shè huì kāi fàng

Following systematic conservation, restoration, and renovation, the Zhengyangmen City Gate Tower in Beijing has reopened to the public.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 纟 (thread) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced shàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 缮 (shàn) mean in Chinese?
缮 (shàn) primarily means "to repair." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3677 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 缮 have?
缮 is written with 15 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 缮?
The radical associated with 缮 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 缮?
缮 is composed of: 纟 (semantic), 善 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰纟善 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 缮?
Common words with 缮 include: 修缮 (xiū shàn, "to renovate"); 缮清 (shàn qīng, "to make a clean copy"); 缮写 (shàn xiě, "to copy"); 误缮 (wù shàn, "to miswrite (while copying written material)"). There are over 4 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 缮 (shàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation shàn: 膳 (meals). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 缮 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 缮 and the traditional form is 繕.

Practice writing 缮 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.