上 (shàng): (bound form) up, upper, above, previous, first (of multiple parts), to climb, to get onto, to go up
上 (shàng) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) up.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺊ (structural) and 一 (structural). It ranks #16 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 上 one stroke on top of another; compare 下 (below). Its radical form 一 (one) appears in many related characters such as 一 (yī, one), 七 (qī, seven), 三 (sān, three).
Definitions
- (bound form) up
- upper
- above
- previous
- first (of multiple parts)
- to climb
- to get onto
- to go up
Etymology & Origin
ideographicOne stroke on top of another; compare 下 (below)
Decomposition: ⿱⺊一 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 上 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 上
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 马上adverb | mǎ shàng | at once | 3 |
| 晚上noun | wǎn shang | evening | 1 |
| 上面noun | shàng miàn | on top of | 2 |
| 早上noun | zǎo shang | early morning | 1 |
| 路上noun | lù shang | on the road | 2 |
| 上班verb | shàng bān | to go to work | 1 |
| 上去verb | shàng qù | to go up | 2 |
| 加上conjunction | jiā shàng | plus | 4 |
| 上学verb | shàng xué | to go to school | 1 |
| 网上noun | wǎng shàng | online | 2 |
| 上课verb | shàng kè | to go to class | 1 |
| 赶上verb | gǎn shàng | to keep up with | 4 |
| 上午noun | shàng wǔ | morning | 1 |
| 以上noun | yǐ shàng | that level or higher | 3 |
| 上来verb | shàng lái | to come up | 2 |
| 上台verb | shàng tái | to rise to power (in politics) | 6 |
| 上升verb | shàng shēng | to rise | 5 |
| 天上noun | tiān shàng | the sky | 5 |
| 上门verb | shàng mén | to drop in | 4 |
| 基本上adverb | jī běn shang | basically | 4 |
| 上衣noun | shàng yī | jacket | 3 |
| 成千上万 | chéng qiān shàng wàn | lit. by the thousands and tens of thousands (idiom) | 6 |
| 线上noun | xiàn shàng | online | 4 |
| 上网verb | shàng wǎng | to go online | 2 |
| 上级noun | shàng jí | higher authorities | 6 |
| 上下noun | shàng xià | the top and bottom of sth | 5 |
| 向上verb | xiàng shàng | upward | 5 |
| 上当verb | shàng dàng | taken in (by sb's deceit) | 6 |
| 上市verb | shàng shì | to hit the market (of a new product) | 6 |
| 上涨verb | shàng zhǎng | to rise | 5 |
| 上述adjective | shàng shù | aforementioned | 6 |
| 上传verb | shàng chuán | to upload | 5 |
| 上进verb | shàng jìn | to make progress | 6 |
| 上旬noun | shàng xún | first third of a month | 6 |
上 appears in 100 compound words: 32 as the first character, 67 as the last, and 1 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 上 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (56)
to wish for higher status (idiom); to curry favor in the hope of promotion
by the thousands and tens of thousands; untold numbers; innumerable; thousands upon thousands
Showing 12 of 56 idioms containing 上.
Example Sentences
早上八点，地铁上已经挤满了上班族，大家都赶着去公司。
Zǎoshang bā diǎn, dìtiě shàng yǐjīng jǐ mǎn le shàngbānzú, dàjiā dōu gǎnzhe qù gōngsī.
At eight in the morning, the subway is already packed with office workers, all rushing to get to work.
...,黄金、白银、原油齐涨,美股三大指数集体上涨丨..
. . . , huáng jīn bái yín yuán yóu qí zhǎng , měi gǔ sān dà zhǐ shǔ jí tī shǎng zhǎng 丨 . .
... The first time I saw this, it was a very good thing that I was so excited about it.
阿福上春晚后爆火登顶AppStore:这4个宝...
ā fú shǎng chūn wǎn hòu bào huǒ dēng dǐng zhè gě bǎo . . .
Afu on the Spring Festival Gala after the explosion of fire topped the AppStore: these 4 po...
一路走来,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到成功..
yī lù zǒu lái , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . .
All the way to Chinese New Year! Shanghai Jing An wishes you the best of luck and success...
点亮中国红!英国地标伦敦眼披上中国春节装扮
diǎn liàng zhōng guó hóng ! yīng guó dì biāo lún dūn yǎn pī shǎng zhōng guó chūn jié zhuāng bàn
Light Up China Red! London Eye Dons Chinese New Year Decorations
树上有些苹果，不是吗？
Shù shàng yǒuxiē píngguǒ, bù shì ma?
There are a few apples on the tree, aren't there?
上个月是十一月吗？
Shànggèyuè shì Shíyīyuè ma?
Was last month November?
约翰在台上唱了什么歌？
Yuēhàn zài táishàng chàng le shénme gē?
What did John sing on the stage?
我一定要马上去吗？
Wǒ yīdìngyào mǎshàng qù ma?
Must I go there at once?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 上 (shàng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 上 and 下?
How many strokes does 上 have?
What is the radical of 上?
What are the components of 上?
What are common words containing 上?
What characters sound the same as 上 (shàng)?
Is 上 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 上 with real-time feedback
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