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 | xiàn yīn qín | to be particularly attentive to (an attractive young lady or man etc) |
| 殷勤 | yīn qín | politely |
| 殷切 | yīn qiè | ardent |
| 殷实 | yīn shí | thriving |
| 殷红 | 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[An1 yang2 Shi4], 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[Yin1 du1 Qu1] |
| 殷商 | 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 | 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.
...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
What does 殷 (yīn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 殷 and 始?
How many strokes does 殷 have?
What is the radical of 殷?
What are the components of 殷?
What are common words containing 殷?
What characters sound the same as 殷 (yīn)?
Is 殷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 殷 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.