(xìng): nature, gender

(xìng) is a Chinese character meaning “nature, gender.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #122 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, heart. Its radical form (heart) appears in many related characters such as (máng, busy), (kuài, fast, happy), (zěn, how).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. nature, gender

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticheart

Decomposition: ⿰忄生 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounnǚ xìngwoman4
noungè xìngindividuality5
nounnán xìngthe male sex4
nounxìng génature4
adjective/nounlǐ xìngreason6
nounxìng biégender4
adjectiveyī cì xìngone-off (offer)5
nounxìng zhìnature5
nountán xìngflexibility6
nountè xìngproperty6
nounxìng néngfunction6
nounxìng jià bǐcost-performance ratio6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
xìng gǎnsex appeal
xìng àisex
xìng mìnglife
rén xìnghuman nature
běn xìngnatural instincts
xìng jiāosexual intercourse
tiān xìngnature
dú xìngtoxicity
biàn xìngto denature
gǎn xìngperception
tóng xìngsame nature
xìng bìngsexually transmitted disease
jì xingmemory (ability to retain information)
rèn xìngwillful
jí xìngacute
100
Total compounds
16
As first character
84
As last character
0
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 16 as the first character, 84 as the last, and 0 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.588782,682 co-occurrences
nán
0.564436,440 co-occurrences
0.52749,758 co-occurrences
zhì
0.522141,510 co-occurrences
liàn
0.49338,789 co-occurrences
duò
0.4777,134 co-occurrences
zhù
0.468116,190 co-occurrences
nài
0.45823,790 co-occurrences
de
0.4512,111,766 co-occurrences
zèng
0.44231,974 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (18)

èxìng xúnhuánHSK 6+

vicious cycle

noun
èxìng zhǒngliúHSK 7+

malignant tumor

noun
jiǎ xìng jìn shìHSK 4+

pseudomyopia

phrase
lǐxìng rènshiHSK 4+

rational knowledge

noun
liángxìng zhǒngliúHSK 7+

benign tumor

noun
miè jué rén xìngHSK 6+

(idiom) to be devoid of all humanity; inhuman; bestial

phrase
nǎo xìng má bìHSK 7+

cerebral palsy; spasticity

phrase
shísèxìngyěHSK 4+

To enjoy food and delight in sex is nature.

phrase
shì shā chéng xìngHSK 7+

bloodthirsty

phrase
xí yǐ chéng xìngHSK 4+

deeply ingrained; steeped in

phrase
线xiànxìngguīhuàHSK 4+

linear programming

noun
xìngbié qíshìHSK 7+

gender discrimination; sexism

noun

Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这种材料的能很稳定,适合长期使用。

Zhè zhǒng cáiliào de xìngnéng hěn wěndìng, shìhé chángqī shǐyòng.

This material's performance is very stable and suitable for long-term use.

TvbsFeb 2026

买刮刮乐停不下来?4星座“赌超强” 牡羊先冲再说是本能

mǎi guā guā lè tíng bù xià lái ? 4 xīng zuò dǔ xìng chāo qiáng mǔ yáng xiān chōng zài shuō shì běn néng

Can't stop buying scratch cards? 4 constellations are "super gambling" Aries rushes first and then instinctively

WorldjournalFeb 2026

搭完邮轮有“离船症候群”?30-60岁女最常见

dā wán yóu lún yǒu lí chuán zhèng hòu qún ? 3 0 6 0 suì nǚ xìng zuì cháng jiàn

After a cruise, "disembarkation syndrome" is most common among women aged 30-60

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...征15%关税立即生效 全球贸易重返不确定时代

. . . zhēng 1 5 guān shuì lì jí shēng xiào quán qiú mào yì chóng fǎn bù què dìng xìng shí dài

... The 15% tariff will take effect immediately Global trade will return to an era of uncertainty

Hk01.comFeb 2026

4宝爸出轨小三24次!爱行事历曝光 人妻试图私了遭拒怒告索偿

4 bǎo bà chū guǐ xiǎo sān 2 4 cì ! xìng ài háng shì lì pù guāng rén qī shì tú sī le zāo jù nù gào suǒ cháng

4 Bao Dad cheated on the mistress 24 times! The sex calendar was exposed, and the wife tried to be private but was rejected and angrily sued for compensation

百度新闻Feb 2026

伊朗总统:伊朗愿就其核工业和平质接受任何形式核查

yī lǎng zǒng tǒng yī lǎng yuàn jiù qí hé gōng yè hé píng xìng zhì jiē shòu rèn hé xíng shì hé chá

Iranian President: Iran is ready to accept any form of verification of the peaceful nature of its nuclear industry

Tatoeba

狗子还有佛也无?

Gǒu zǐ háiyǒu Fóxìng yě wú?

Does a dog have a Buddha-nature or not?

Tatoeba

老婆怀孕没了欲我该怎么办?

Lǎopó huáiyùn méile xìngyù wǒ gāi zěnmebàn?

My wife has no libido since she got pregnant. What can I do?

Tatoeba

”你是异恋还是女同?“”我是异恋。“

"nǐ shì yìxìngliàn háishi nǚtóng?""wǒ shì yìxìngliàn."

"Are you hetero or lesbian?" "I am hetero."

Tatoeba

事故差点让他丢了命。

Shìgù chàdiǎn ràng tā diū le xìngmìng.

The accident almost cost him his life.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced xìng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 性 (xìng) mean in Chinese?
性 (xìng) primarily means "nature, gender." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #122 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 性 and 胜?
性 (xìng) and 胜 (shèng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 忄 vs 肉 (same 生 component).
How many strokes does 性 have?
性 is written with 8 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 性?
The radical associated with 性 is 忄 (heart). This radical appears in many characters related to heart.
What are the components of 性?
性 is composed of: 忄 (semantic), 生 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰忄生 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 性?
Common words with 性 include: 性感 (xìng gǎn, "sex appeal"); 女性 (nǚ xìng, "woman"); 个性 (gè xìng, "individuality"); 男性 (nán xìng, "the male sex"); 性爱 (xìng ài, "sex"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 性 (xìng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation xìng: 星 (star), 姓 (surname), 猩 (ape), 腥 (fishy (smell)), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 性 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 性 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.