昔 (xī): former times, the past
昔 (xī) is a Chinese character meaning “former times.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 廿 (structural) and 日 (structural). It ranks #2315 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 昔 twenty 廿 days ago 日. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 早 (zǎo, early, morning), 时 (shí, time, hour).
Definitions
- former times
- the past
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTwenty 廿 days ago 日
Decomposition: ⿱廿日 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 昔 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 昔日noun | xī rì | former days |
| 往昔noun | wǎng xī | the past |
| 今非昔比phrase | jīn fēi xī bǐ | (idiom) things are very different now |
| 今昔noun | jīn xī | past and present |
| 今不如昔phrase | jīn bù rú xī | things are not as good as they used to be |
| 修昔底德proper-noun | xiū xī dǐ dé | Thucydides (c. 455–c. 400 BC), Greek historian and author of History of the Peloponnesian War |
| 美洛昔康 | měi luò xī kāng | meloxicam (anti-inflammatory drug) |
| 昔年noun | xī nián | former years |
| 果昔 | guǒ xī | (Tw) smoothie |
| 阿昔洛韦noun | ā xī luò wéi | aciclovir (also spelled acyclovir), antiviral drug |
| 修昔底德陷阱noun | xiū xī dǐ dé xiàn jǐng | Thucydides Trap (theory that war may result when a rising power threatens to displace an established power) |
| 昔阳县 | xī yáng xiàn | Xiyang, a county in Jinzhong City 晉中市|晋中市, Shanxi |
| 古昔adverb | gǔ xī | (literary) ancient times |
| 昔阳 | xī yáng | see 昔陽縣|昔阳县 |
| 奶昔noun | nǎi xī | milkshake (Note: 昔 is loaned from English "shake" via Cantonese 昔, pr. sik1) |
昔 appears in 16 compound words: 25 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 31 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 昔 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
昔落西山，晚霞映红了半边天。
xī luò xī shān , wǎn xiá yìng hóng le bàn biān tiān .
The sun set over the western hills, The evening glow painted half the sky crimson.
台湾烧打鸡昔爆打孙安佐 韩森松口断联内幕:祝福他未来...
tái wān shāo dǎ jī xī bào dǎ sūn ān zuǒ hán sēn sōng kǒu duàn lián nèi mù : zhù fú tā wèi lái . . .
Taiwan's roasted chicken used to beat Sun Anzuo, Han Sen let go of the inside story: I wish him a future...
观点争鸣丨昔日“陆战之王”将何去何从
guàn diǎn zhēng míng 丨 xī rì lù zhàn zhī wáng jiāng hé qù hé cóng
Opinions dispute丨Where will the former "king of land warfare" go?
张琼姿餐厅卷入高金素梅涉贪案 昔“车内密会潘若迪”险被离婚
zhāng 琼 zī cān tīng juǎn rù gāo jīn sù méi shè tān àn xī chē nèi mì huì pān ruò dí xiǎn bèi lí hūn
Zhang Qiongzi's restaurant was involved in Gao Jin Sumei's corruption case, and the former "secret meeting Pan Ruodi in the car" was almost divorced
“黑暗王子”坠落:工党昔日军师与英国前驻美大使,曼德森因富豪淫魔...
hēi àn wáng zǐ zhuì luò : gōng dǎng xī rì jūn shī yǔ yīng guó qián zhù měi dà shǐ , 曼 dé sēn yīn fù háo 淫 mó . . .
The "Prince of Darkness" fell: the former military strategist of the Labor Party and the former British ambassador to the United States, Manderson was promiscuous because of the rich man...
蓝白喊关税重启谈判昔前功尽弃 他批刻意渲染恐慌
lán bái hǎn guān shuì chóng qǐ tán pàn xī qián gōng jǐn qì tā pī kè yì 渲 rǎn kǒng huāng
Blue and white shouted tariffs to restart negotiations, and his criticism deliberately exaggerated panic
获得诺贝尔奖后，她仍谦虚如昔。
Huòdé Nuòbèi'ěr Jiǎng hòu, tā réng qiānxū rú xī.
After winning the Nobel prize, she remained as modest as ever.
你看起来健康如昔。
Nǐ kànqǐlai jiànkāng rú xī.
You look as healthy as ever.
这些照片总是让我想起昔日时光。
Zhèxiē zhàopiàn zǒngshì ràng wǒ xiǎngqǐ xīrì shíguāng.
These pictures always remind me of the old days.
请帮我做个奶昔。
Qǐng bāng wǒ zuò gè nǎixī.
Please make a milkshake for me.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 昔 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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