(yuān): deep pool, deep, profound

(yuān) is a Chinese character meaning “deep pool.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic). It ranks #2142 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, water. Its radical form (water) appears in many related characters such as (shuǐ, water), (hàn, Han ethnic group), (, steam).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: water11 strokesFrequency #2142 semantic

Definitions

  1. deep pool
  2. deep
  3. profound

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticwater

Components:semantic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
shēn yuānabyss
yuān yuánorigin
yuān bóerudite
yuān sǒu(lit.) gathering place of fish or other creatures
tiān yuān zhī biésee 天壤之別|天壤之别[tian1 rang3 zhi1 bie2]
rú lín shēn yuānlit. as if on the brink of a deep abyss (idiom)
退lín yuān xiàn yú , bù rú tuì ér jié wǎngbetter to go home and weave a net than to stand by the pond longing for fish (idiom)
xiǎo yuān huì sānObuchi Keizo (1937-2000), Japanese politician, prime minister 1998-2000
bù chì tiān yuānno less than from heaven to the abyss (idiom)
tiān yuāndistance between two poles
xiǎo yuānObuchi (Japanese surname)
yuān hǎi(lit.) abyss and ocean
yuān shíerudite and sophisticated
yuān yuǎndeep
yuān shēnprofound (knowledge)
40
Total compounds
53
As first character
35
As last character
13
As middle character

appears in 40 compound words: 53 as the first character, 35 as the last, and 13 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.

0.4851,794 co-occurrences
jié
0.476912 co-occurrences
yuán
0.4627,548 co-occurrences
0.4567,200 co-occurrences
shēn
0.4384,542 co-occurrences
míng
0.421570 co-occurrences
shí
0.4171,518 co-occurrences
zhèng
0.410990 co-occurrences
huì
0.406156 co-occurrences
è
0.403120 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (4)

línyuānxiànyúHSK 7+

to wish for something good but take no action to obtain it; irresoluteness

phrase
rúlínshēnyuānHSK 7+

to be extremely cautious

phrase
tiānyuānzhībiéHSK 7+

as far apart as heaven from earth; poles apart; worlds apart

phrase
yuān tíng yuè zhìHSK 7+

(idiom) to have a serene yet formidable demeanor; to have a commanding presence

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这条流经三个省份,滋养了沿岸的农田。

zhè tiáo yuān liú jīng sān gě shěng fèn , zī yǎng le yán àn de nóng tián .

This river flows through three provinces, nourishing the farmland along its banks.

ZaobaoMar 2026

...做不实陈述 “网络公民”出版商与总编辑许臣接更正指示

. . . zuò bù shí chén shù wǎng lào gōng mín chū bǎn shāng yǔ zǒng biān jí xǔ yuān chén jiē gēng zhèng zhǐ shì

...For making false statements, Xu Yuanchen, publisher and editor-in-chief of "Netizen," received instructions to issue a correction

SmzdmMar 2026

【深9预选赛|杨某人】成都GGvsFPX.Z...

shēn yuān 9 yù xuǎn sài yáng mǒu rén chéng dōu G G v s F P X . Z . . .

[Abyss 9 Qualifiers | Yang] Chengdu GG vs. FPX.Z...

SmzdmMar 2026

【凉哈皮ob】第五人格赛事深九抽签

liáng hā pí o b dì wǔ rén gé sài shì shēn yuān jiǔ chōu qiān

[Liang Hapi OB] Identity V Tournament: Abyss 9 Draw

SmzdmMar 2026

...坑!戴灵G3/竹林鸟玄武/觅声白羊座/寸影弑/觅声射手...

. . . kēng ! dài líng G 3 zhú lín niǎo xuán wǔ mì shēng bái yáng zuò cùn yuān yǐng 弑 mì shēng shè shǒu . . .

...What a letdown! Dai Ling G3 / Bamboo Grove Bird Xuanwu / Sound Seeker Aries / Cunyuan Shadow Slayer / Sound Seeker Sagittarius...

中国军网Feb 2026

潭丨每名官兵都是一道风景

yù yuān tán 丨 měi míng guān bīng dōu shì yī dào fēng jǐng

Yuyuan Pond丨Every officer and soldier is a scenery

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yuān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 渊 (yuān) mean in Chinese?
渊 (yuān) primarily means "deep pool." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2142 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 渊 and 浅?
渊 (yuān) and 浅 (qiǎn) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 渊 (deep) vs 浅 (shallow).
How many strokes does 渊 have?
渊 is written with 11 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 渊?
The radical associated with 渊 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 渊?
渊 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), undefined (phonetic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 渊?
Common words with 渊 include: 深渊 (shēn yuān, "abyss"); 渊源 (yuān yuán, "origin"); 渊博 (yuān bó, "erudite"); 渊薮 (yuān sǒu, "(lit.) gathering place of fish or other creatures"); 天渊之别 (tiān yuān zhī bié, "see 天壤之別|天壤之别[tian1 rang3 zhi1 bie2]"). There are over 40 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 渊 (yuān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yuān: 元 (Yuan dynasty (1279–1368)), 员 (member, staff), 园 (land used for growing plants), 原 (former), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 渊 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 渊 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.