衅 (xìn): quarrel, dispute, a blood sacrifice (arch.)
衅 (xìn) is a Chinese character meaning “quarrel.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 血 (semantic) and 半 (phonetic). It ranks #2823 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 衅 blood. Its radical form 血 (blood) appears in many related characters such as 血 (xiě, see 血).
Definitions
- quarrel
- dispute
- a blood sacrifice (arch.)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 衅 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 挑衅 | tiǎo xìn | to provoke |
| 寻衅 | xún xìn | to pick a quarrel |
| 寻衅滋事罪 | xún xìn zī shì zuì | disorderly behavior (PRC law) |
| 边衅 | biān xìn | clash on the frontier |
| 衅端 | xìn duān | pretext for a dispute |
| 观衅伺隙 | guān xìn sì xì | lit. to look for holes, and observe gaps (idiom) |
| 衅隙 | xìn xì | enmity |
衅 appears in 7 compound words: 29 as the first character, 43 as the last, and 29 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 衅 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了衅字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le xìn zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "衅" in the dictionary.
Benz女司机违泊巴士站拒离开!举中指挑衅 九巴司机落车理论赶走
B e n z nǚ sī jī wéi bó bā shì zhàn jù lí kāi ! jǔ zhōng zhǐ tiāo xìn jiǔ bā sī jī luò chē lǐ lùn gǎn zǒu
Mercedes-Benz driver illegally parked at a bus stop and refused to leave! She gave the middle finger in defiance; a KMB driver got out of his bus to confront her and shooed her away
黄仁勋罕见谈台海!吁美国不要挑衅中国、台湾值得友谊与支持
huáng rén xūn hǎn jiàn tán tái hǎi ! xū měi guó bù yāo tiāo xìn zhōng guó , tái wān zhí dé yǒu yì yǔ zhī chí
Jensen Huang Makes Rare Comments on the Taiwan Strait! Urges the U.S. Not to Provoke China; Says Taiwan Deserves Friendship and Support
...男向饼店职员掟面包 另涉推跌老翁被捕 挑衅警员:玩嘢
. . . nán xiàng bǐng diàn zhí yuán 掟 miàn bāo lìng shè tuī diē lǎo wēng bèi bǔ tiāo xìn jǐng yuán : wán 嘢
... Man throwing bread at bakery clerk Arrested for pushing and knocking down old man provoking police officer: Playing tricks
青衣黑褛男向饼店职员掟包 疑言语挑衅警员 揭另涉推跌老翁被捕
qīng yī hēi 褛 nán xiàng bǐng diàn zhí yuán 掟 bāo yí yán yǔ tiāo xìn jǐng yuán jiē lìng shè tuī diē lǎo wēng bèi bǔ
A man in a black coat in green clothes threw a bag at a bakery clerk, suspected of provoking the police officers, and was arrested for pushing and dropping the old man
...se New Year 小粉红崩溃:在挑衅我们
. . . s e N e w Y e a r xiǎo fěn hóng bēng kuì : zài tiāo xìn wǒ men
... se New Year Little Pink Crash: Provoking Us
反叛者践踏敌人的旗帜,以示挑衅。
Fǎnpàn zhě jiàntà dírén de qízhì, yǐ shì tiǎoxìn.
Rebels stomped on the enemy’s flags as a sign of defiance.
萨米对顾客变得更加挑衅了。
Sàmǐ duì gùkè biàn de gèngjiā tiǎoxìn le.
Sami became more aggressive with customers.
他是个挑衅高手。
Tā shì gè tiǎoxìn gāoshǒu.
He's a master of provocation.
有时候冰球运动员相互挑衅得太厉害以至于会引发斗殴。
Yǒushíhou bīngqiú yùndòngyuán xiānghù tiǎoxìn de tài lìhai yǐzhìyú huì yǐnfā dòu'ōu.
Sometimes hockey players get so competitive that fights break out.
Character Family
血 Radical Family — Characters sharing the blood radical
Related Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 衅 (xìn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 衅 and 胖?
How many strokes does 衅 have?
What is the radical of 衅?
What are the components of 衅?
What are common words containing 衅?
What characters sound the same as 衅 (xìn)?
Is 衅 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 衅 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.