簪 (zān): hairpin

簪 (zān) is a Chinese character meaning “hairpin.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 朁 (phonetic). It ranks #4403 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 簪 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for), 笑 (xiào, to laugh).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. hairpin

Etymology & Origin

簪

pictophoneticbamboo

Decomposition: ⿱⺮朁 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
发簪fà zānhairpin
持橐簪笔chí tuó zān bǐto serve as a counselor (idiom)
2
Total compounds
0
As first character
50
As last character
50
As middle character

簪 appears in 2 compound words: 0 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 50 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

持橐簪笔chí tuó zān bǐ

to serve as a counselor (idiom)

phrase

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

今年3月,商业模特七海在社交平台发文称,AI短剧《桃花簪》盗用了自己的肖像。

jīn nián 3 yuè , shāng yè mó tè qī hǎi zài shè jiāo píng tái fā wén chēng , A I duǎn jù táo huā zān dào yòng le zì jǐ de xiào xiàng .

In March of this year, commercial model Qihai posted on social media claiming that the AI short drama *Peach Blossom Hairpin* had used her likeness without permission.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

随后,福建省实验闽剧院优秀青年演员严慧馨上演极具闽地特色的舞蹈《三条簪》。

suí hòu , fú jiàn shěng shí yàn mǐn jù yuàn yōu xiù qīng nián yǎn yuán yán huì xīn shàng yǎn jí jù mǐn dì tè sè de wǔ dǎo sān tiáo zān .

Next, Yan Huixin, an outstanding young actress from the Fujian Provincial Experimental Minju Theater, performed “Three Hairpins,” a dance rich in the distinctive cultural characteristics of the Min region.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

资料图:国际友人身着汉服头戴花饰,开启簪花汉服游。

zī liào tú : guó jì yǒu rén shēn zhe hàn fú tóu dài huā shì , kāi qǐ zān huā hàn fú yóu .

File photo: International friends dressed in Hanfu and wearing floral headpieces set out on a Hanfu tour with floral hairpins.

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

从国宝级文物《簪花仕女图》卷上,看到了什么?

cóng guó bǎo jí wén wù zān huā shì nǚ tú juǎn shàng , kàn dào le shén me ?

What Can We See in the Upper Scroll of the National Treasure “Ladies Adorning Themselves with Flowers”?

中国新闻网·文化Jun 2026

程丽的竹丝编作品《簪花仕女图》,被中国工艺美术馆收藏。

chéng lì de zhú sī biān zuò pǐn zān huā shì nǚ tú , bèi zhōng guó gōng yì měi shù guǎn shōu zàng .

Cheng Li’s bamboo-thread weaving piece, *Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers*, has been acquired by the China National Museum of Arts and Crafts.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 簪 (zān) mean in Chinese?
簪 (zān) primarily means "hairpin." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4403 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 簪 have?
簪 is written with 18 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 簪?
The radical associated with 簪 is 竹 (bamboo). This radical appears in many characters related to bamboo.
What are the components of 簪?
簪 is composed of: ⺮ (semantic), 朁 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⺮朁 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 簪?
Common words with 簪 include: 发簪 (fà zān, "hairpin"); 持橐簪笔 (chí tuó zān bǐ, "to serve as a counselor (idiom)"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.
Is 簪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 簪 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 簪 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken 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.