张 (zhāng): to open up, to spread, sheet of paper
张 (zhāng) is a Chinese character meaning “to open up.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 弓 (semantic) and 长 (phonetic). It ranks #318 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 张 bow. Its radical form 弓 (bow) appears in many related characters such as 弟 (dì, younger brother), 强 (qiáng, stubborn), 引 (yǐn, to draw (e.g. a bow)).
Definitions
- to open up
- to spread
- sheet of paper
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 张 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 张
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 紧张adjective | jǐn zhāng | nervous | 4 |
| 夸张adjective | kuā zhāng | to exaggerate | 6 |
| 主张verb/noun | zhǔ zhāng | to advocate | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 张开verb | zhāng kāi | to open up |
| 开张verb | kāi zhāng | to open a business |
| 伸张verb | shēn zhāng | to uphold (e.g. justice or virtue) |
| 虚张声势 | xū zhāng shēng shì | (idiom) to bluff |
| 扩张verb | kuò zhāng | expansion |
| 慌张adjective | huāng zhāng | flustered |
| 张扬verb | zhāng yáng | to display ostentatiously |
| 纸张noun | zhǐ zhāng | paper |
| 自作主张 | zì zuò zhǔ zhāng | (idiom) to act on one's own |
| 嚣张adjective | xiāo zhāng | rampant |
| 声张verb | shēng zhāng | to make public |
| 张力noun | zhāng lì | tension |
| 张贴verb | zhāng tiē | to post (a notice) |
| 张嘴verb | zhāng zuǐ | to open one's mouth (to speak, esp. to make a request) |
| 张望verb | zhāng wàng | to look around |
张 appears in 102 compound words: 76 as the first character, 19 as the last, and 5 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 张 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (25)
Showing 12 of 25 idioms containing 张.
Example Sentences
张字在日常生活中使用频率中等。
zhāng zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ zhōng děng .
The character "张" is used with moderate frequency in daily life.
7张图表说明LGBTIQ在瑞士各方面的情况
7 zhāng tú biǎo shuō míng L G B T I Q zài ruì shì gè fāng miàn de qíng kuàng
7 charts illustrating LGBTIQ in Switzerland in all its aspects
张琼姿餐厅卷入高金素梅涉贪案 昔“车内密会...
zhāng 琼 zī cān tīng juǎn rù gāo jīn sù méi shè tān àn xī chē nèi mì huì . . .
Zhang Qiongzi's restaurant was involved in Gao Jin Sumei's corruption case in the past, "secret meeting in the car...
倾销争议 天声董事长张水圳曾硬杠美政府
qīng xiāo zhēng yì tiān shēng dǒng shì cháng zhāng shuǐ 圳 céng yìng gàng měi zhèng fǔ
Dumping controversy Tiansheng Chairman Zhang Shuizhen once slammed the US government
WBC练习赛张峻玮对韩职投2局 飙速155公里
W B C liàn xí sài zhāng jùn 玮 duì hán zhí tóu 2 jú biāo sù 1 5 5 gōng lǐ
WBC practice match Zhang Junwei pitched 2 innings against South Korea and soared 155 kilometers
联合国:收到伊朗来信 对地区紧张局势深表关切
lián gě guó : shōu dào yī lǎng lái xìn duì dì qū jǐn zhāng jú shì shēn biǎo guān qiē
United Nations: Received a letter from Iran expressing deep concern about regional tensions
你可以移一移那张椅子吗?
Nǐ kěyǐ yí yī yí nà zhāng yǐzi ma?
Could you move the chair a bit?
你去年写了多少张圣诞卡?
Nǐ qùnián xiě le duōshao zhāng Shèngdànkǎ?
How many Christmas cards did you write last year?
床上有多少张毯子?
Chuáng shàng yǒu duōshao zhāng tǎnzi?
How many blankets are there on the bed?
为什么汤姆很紧张?
Wèishénme Tāngmǔ hěn jǐnzhāng?
Why is Tom nervous?
Character Family
弓 Radical Family — Characters sharing the bow radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 张 (zhāng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 张 and 下?
How many strokes does 张 have?
What is the radical of 张?
What are the components of 张?
What are common words containing 张?
What characters sound the same as 张 (zhāng)?
Is 张 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 张 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.