顺 (shùn): to obey, to follow, to arrange

顺 (shùn) is a Chinese character meaning “to obey.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 川 (phonetic) and 页 (semantic). It ranks #938 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 顺 head. Its radical form 页 (page) appears in many related characters such as 页 (yè, page), 须 (xū, must), 顾 (gù, to look after).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to obey
  2. to follow
  3. to arrange

Etymology & Origin

顺

pictophonetichead

Decomposition: ⿰川页 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 顺

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
顺利adjectiveshùn lìsmoothly4
顺便adverbshùn biànconveniently4
顺序nounshùn xùsequence4
一路顺风interjectionyī lù shùn fēngto have a pleasant journey (idiom)5
一帆风顺phraseyī fān fēng shùnpropitious wind throughout the journey (idiom)6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
顺着shùn zheto follow
顺路adverbshùn lùby the way
顺道adverbshùn dàoon the way
顺从verbshùn cóngobedient
顺风verbshùn fēnglit. tail wind
顺带adverbshùn dài(do sth) in passing
顺眼adjectiveshùn yǎnpleasing to the eye
温顺adjectivewēn shùndocile
顺手adverbshùn shǒuas an incidental action while doing sth else
顺畅adjectiveshùn chàngsmooth and unhindered
顺心adjectiveshùn xīnhappy
孝顺verbxiào shùnfilial
柔顺adjectiveróu shùngentle and agreeable
顺势verbshùn shìto take advantage
顺子nounshùn zia straight (poker, mahjong)
101
Total compounds
57
As first character
32
As last character
11
As middle character

顺 appears in 101 compound words: 57 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 11 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 顺 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

针zhēn
0.69518,552 co-occurrences
握wò
0.645106 co-occurrences
序xù
0.62618,775 co-occurrences
掌zhǎng
0.621106 co-occurrences
抚fǔ
0.5604,158 co-occurrences
字zì
0.516217 co-occurrences
确què
0.498109 co-occurrences
画huà
0.488109 co-occurrences
音yīn
0.469109 co-occurrences
时shí
0.46221,248 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (15)

百依百顺bǎiyībǎishùnHSK 5+

docile and obedient; complete obedience

phrase
低眉顺眼dīméishùnyǎnHSK 6+

to be submissive and meek

phrase
节哀顺变jié'āishùnbiànHSK 7+

to restrain one's grief and accept fate (used to console family of a deceased person); my condolences

phrase
贸易顺差màoyì shùnchāHSK 6+

trade surplus

noun
名正言顺míng zhèng yán shùnHSK 4+

in a way that justifies the use of the term; genuine; proper

phrase
逆来顺受nìláishùnshòuHSK 7+

to meekly submit to oppression, maltreatment, etc.; to resign oneself to adversity

phrase
千依百顺qiān yī bǎi shùnHSK 5+

totally submissive (idiom)

phrase
顺风转舵shùn fēng zhuǎn duòHSK 7+

to act according to whatever is the current outlook; pragmatic; unprincipled

phrase
顺其自然shùnqízìránHSK 4+

to let it be; to let nature take its course; que sera sera

phrase
顺手牵羊shùnshǒuqiānyángHSK 6+

to steal something under the cover of an emergency; to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain

phrase
顺水推舟shùnshuǐtuīzhōuHSK 7+

to do something with the prevailing climate or tendency; to take advantage of the situation

phrase
顺藤摸瓜shùnténgmōguāHSK 7+

to follow the clues to get to the bottom of a matter or to thoroughly inquire into a matter

phrase

Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 顺.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

顺字的写法很特别,让我印象深刻。

shùn zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character "顺" is written is quite unique and has left a deep impression on me.

Investing 香港Feb 2026

中泰证券:银行股从“顺周期”到“弱周期” 重点推荐大型银行以及...

zhōng tài zhèng quàn : yín háng gǔ cóng shùn zhōu qī dào ruò zhōu qī chóng diǎn tuī jiàn dà xíng yín háng yǐ jí . . .

Zhongtai Securities: Bank stocks from "pro-cyclical" to "weak cycle" focus on recommending large banks and...

StheadlineFeb 2026

珍惜生命|秀茂坪顺利邨45岁妇堕楼 昏迷送院抢救不治

zhēn xī shēng mìng xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 4 5 suì fù duò lóu hūn mí sòng yuàn qiǎng jiù bù zhì

Cherish Life|A 45-year-old woman fell from a building in Shunli Estate of Sau Mau Ping and was sent to the hospital in a coma for rescue

東方日報Feb 2026

秀茂坪顺利邨妇人堕楼亡 原因待查

xiù mào píng shùn lì 邨 fù rén duò lóu wáng yuán yīn dài chá

The cause of the death of a woman in Shunli Village, Sau Mau Ping, who fell from a building is to be investigated

Tatoeba

顺便说一句,你最近见过他吗?

Shùnbiàn shuō yījù, nǐ zuìjìn jiàn guo tā ma?

By the way, have you seen him lately?

Tatoeba

顺便问一句,你今晚有空吗?

Shùnbiàn wèn yījù, nǐ jīnwǎn yǒu kòng ma?

By the way, are you free tonight?

Tatoeba

顺便问一下,餐厅晚上几点钟开始营业?

Shùnbiàn wèn yīxià, cāntīng wǎnshang jǐ diǎnzhōng kāishǐ yíngyè?

By the way, may I ask when in the evening your restaurant opens?

Tatoeba

顺便问一句,你们已经去过北海道了吗?

Shùnbiàn wèn yījù, nǐmen yǐjīng qù guo Běihǎidào le ma?

By the way, have you ever been to Hokkaido?

Tatoeba

你能把这清单按字母顺序排列吗?

Nǐ néng bǎ zhè qīngdān àn zìmǔ shùnxù páiliè ma?

Could you rearrange this list so it's in alphabetical order?

Tatoeba

顺着你的感觉走吧!

Shùnzhe nǐ de gǎnjué zǒu ba!

Just follow your heart.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 页 (head) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced shùn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 顺 (shùn) mean in Chinese?
顺 (shùn) primarily means "to obey." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #938 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 顺 and 训?
顺 (shùn) and 训 (xùn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 页 vs 讠 (same 川 component).
How many strokes does 顺 have?
顺 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 顺?
The radical associated with 顺 is 页 (page). This radical appears in many characters related to page.
What are the components of 顺?
顺 is composed of: 川 (phonetic), 页 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰川页 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 顺?
Common words with 顺 include: 顺利 (shùn lì, "smoothly"); 顺便 (shùn biàn, "conveniently"); 顺序 (shùn xù, "sequence"); 顺着 (shùn zhe, "to follow"); 一路顺风 (yī lù shùn fēng, "to have a pleasant journey (idiom)"). There are over 101 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 顺 (shùn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation shùn: 瞬 (moment). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 顺 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 顺 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 顺 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.