殷 (yīn): dynasty name at the end the Shang dynasty, after its move to Yinxu 殷墟 in present-day Henan, dark red, flourishing
殷 (yīn) is a Chinese character meaning “dynasty name at the end the shang dynasty, after its move to yinxu 殷墟 in present-day henan.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 㐆 (structural) and 殳 (structural). It ranks #2295 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 殷 a midwife 殳 to helping a pregnant woman 㐆; 㐆 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 殳 (weapon) appears in many related characters such as 段 (duàn, paragraph), 毁 (huǐ, to destroy), 殴 (ōu, to beat up).
Definitions
- dynasty name at the end the Shang dynasty, after its move to Yinxu 殷墟 in present-day Henan
- dark red
- flourishing
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA midwife 殳 to helping a pregnant woman 㐆; 㐆 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰㐆殳 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 殷 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 献殷勤verb | xiàn yīn qín | to be particularly attentive to (an attractive young lady or man etc) |
| 殷勤adjective | yīn qín | politely |
| 殷切adjective | yīn qiè | ardent |
| 殷实adjective | yīn shí | thriving |
| 殷红adjective | yān hóng | dark red |
| 殷殷 | yīn yīn | earnest |
| 殷都区 | yīn dū qū | Yindu, a district of Anyang City 安陽市|安阳市, Henan |
| 无事献殷勤,非奸即盗 | wú shì xiàn yīn qín , fēi jiān jí dào | one who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions (idiom) |
| 殷都 | yīn dū | see 殷都區|殷都区 |
| 殷商proper-noun | yīn shāng | final name of the Shang dynasty after their move to Yinxu 殷墟 in modern Henan province |
| 殷忧启圣 | yīn yōu qǐ shèng | deep suffering can lead to enlightenment (idiom) |
| 殷富adjective | yīn fù | well off |
| 红殷殷 | hóng yān yān | dark red |
| 孔殷 | kǒng yīn | urgent |
| 殷弘绪 | yīn hóng xù | François Xavier d'Entrecolles (1664-1741), French Jesuit missionary to Kangxi court |
殷 appears in 16 compound words: 75 as the first character, 6 as the last, and 19 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 殷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
殷字由10笔画组成,结构很巧妙。
yīn zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "殷" consists of ten strokes and has a very ingenious structure.
本打算让失去记忆的他雪上加霜,想着“来都来了”的结香,一脚踏入殷显的回忆。
běn dǎ suàn ràng shī qù jì yì de tā xuě shàng jiā shuāng , xiǎng zhe lái dōu lái le de jié xiāng , yī jiǎo tà rù yīn xiǎn de huí yì .
Having originally intended to make things even worse for him—who had lost his memory—Ketsuka, thinking, “Well, since I’m already here,” stepped right into Yin Xian’s memories.
驻足凝神,古人笔下“万杵之声殷地,火光炸天”的喧腾隐约可闻。
zhù zú níng shén , gǔ rén bǐ xià wàn 杵 zhī shēng yīn dì , huǒ guāng zhà tiān de xuān téng yǐn yuē kě wén .
As you pause and focus your attention, you can faintly hear the clamor described by ancient writers as “the sound of ten thousand pestles pounding the earth, with flames bursting into the sky.”
百度智能云副总裁殷大伟前段时间在中关村论坛上说过一句大实话:能用,但不敢用。
bǎi dù zhì néng yún fù zǒng cái yīn dà wěi qián duàn shí jiān zài zhōng guān cūn lùn tán shàng shuō guò yī jù dà shí huà : néng yòng , dàn bù gǎn yòng .
Yin Dawei, Vice President of Baidu Intelligent Cloud, recently spoke a home truth at the Zhongguancun Forum: "It works, but I'm afraid to use it."
...金奖得主林家谦“喂狗大过天”完骚速逃 周殷廷避谈隐藏正印称病离场 冯允谦不贪心获四...
. . . jīn jiǎng dé zhǔ lín jiā qiān wéi gǒu dà guò tiān wán sāo sù táo zhōu yīn tíng bì tán yǐn zàng zhèng yìn chèn bìng lí chǎng píng yǔn qiān bù tān xīn huò sì . . .
...Gold medalist Lin Jiaqian made a grand entrance with "Feeding the Dog Is More Important Than Anything" before making a quick exit; Zhou Yinting avoided discussing his secret girlfriend and left the venue citing illness; Feng Yunqian, not being greedy, won four...
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What's the difference between 殷 and 始?
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What is the radical of 殷?
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What characters sound the same as 殷 (yīn)?
Is 殷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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