箱 (xiāng): box, trunk, chest
箱 (xiāng) is a Chinese character meaning “box.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 相 (phonetic). It ranks #1444 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 箱 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).
Definitions
- box
- trunk
- chest
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 箱 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 箱
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 保险箱 | bǎo xiǎn xiāng | safe deposit box |
| 信箱 | xìn xiāng | mailbox |
| 烤箱 | kǎo xiāng | oven |
| 垃圾箱 | lā jī xiāng | rubbish can |
| 手提箱 | shǒu tí xiāng | suitcase |
| 集装箱 | jí zhuāng xiāng | container (for shipping) |
| 行李箱 | xíng li xiāng | suitcase |
| 工具箱 | gōng jù xiāng | toolbox |
| 油箱 | yóu xiāng | fuel tank |
| 水箱 | shuǐ xiāng | water tank |
| 皮箱 | pí xiāng | leather suitcase |
| 急救箱 | jí jiù xiāng | first-aid kit |
| 车箱 | chē xiāng | variant of 車廂|车厢[che1 xiang1] |
| 电冰箱 | diàn bīng xiāng | refrigerator |
| 音箱 | yīn xiāng | loudspeaker box |
箱 appears in 81 compound words: 9 as the first character, 80 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 箱 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
voice mail (system for storing verbal messages left through a conventional telephone network)
Example Sentences
这个箱字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě xiāng zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "箱" had different meanings in classical Chinese.
女子拜拜遇贼翻置物箱 警方迅速拦捕男嫌
nǚ zǐ bài bài yù zéi fān zhì wù xiāng jǐng fāng xùn sù lán bǔ nán xián
The police quickly stopped the male suspect
纽约起诉 Valve,指控其游戏开箱系统是“典型的赌博”
niǔ yuē qǐ sù V a l v e , zhǐ kòng qí yóu xì kāi xiāng xì tǒng shì diǎn xíng de dǔ bó
New York sues Valve, alleging that its game unboxing system is "typical gambling"
年夜饭放冰箱吃好几天 老人吃进ICU!“冰箱杀手”李...
nián yè fàn fàng bīng xiāng chī hǎo jī tiān lǎo rén chī jìn I C U ! bīng xiāng shā shǒu lǐ . . .
Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is put in the refrigerator for several days, and the elderly eat into the ICU!" Refrigerator killer "Li...
[深度] 川普重整关税工具箱 全球贸易乱局卷土重来
shēn dù chuān pǔ chóng zhěng guān shuì gōng jù xiāng quán qiú mào yì luàn jú juǎn tǔ chóng lái
Trump's restructuring tariff toolbox Global trade chaos is back
过年年菜吃不完!3招简单清冰箱 剩菜新吃法一次看
guò nián nián cài chī bù wán ! 3 zhāo jiǎn dān qīng bīng xiāng shèng cài xīn chī fǎ yī cì kàn
Can't finish the New Year's dishes! 3 simple ways to clear the refrigerator and see a new way to eat leftovers at once
你将在箱根待多久？
Nǐ jiāng zài Xiānggēn dāi duōjiǔ?
How long will you stay in Hakone?
嘿，汤姆，我们可以买两箱生菜吗？
Hēi, Tāngmǔ, wǒmen kěyǐ mǎi liǎng xiāng shēngcài ma?
Hey, Tom, can we get two bins of lettuce?
邻居看见信箱不是空的。
Línjū kànjiàn xìnxiāng bù shì kōng de.
The neighbours see that the mailbox hasn't been emptied.
把这张邮票贴在明信片上，然后投到邮箱里。
Bǎ zhè zhāng yóupiào tiē zài míngxìnpiàn shàng, ránhòu tóu dào yóuxiāng lǐ.
Put this stamp on the postcard and drop it in the mailbox.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 箱 (xiāng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 箱 and 霜?
How many strokes does 箱 have?
What is the radical of 箱?
What are the components of 箱?
What are common words containing 箱?
What characters sound the same as 箱 (xiāng)?
Is 箱 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 箱 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.