章 (zhāng): chapter, section, clause, movement (of symphony), seal, badge
章 (zhāng) is a Chinese character meaning “chapter.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 音 (structural) and 十 (structural). It ranks #539 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 章 the ten 十 movements of a piece of music 音. Its radical form 音 (sound) appears in many related characters such as 音 (yīn, sound), 竟 (jìng, unexpectedly), 韵 (yùn, the final (of a syllable) (Chinese phonology)).
Definitions
- chapter
- section
- clause
- movement (of symphony)
- seal
- badge
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe ten 十 movements of a piece of music 音
Decomposition: ⿱音十 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 章 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 章
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 徽章 | huī zhāng | badge |
| 勋章 | xūn zhāng | medal |
| 章鱼 | zhāng yú | octopus |
| 奖章 | jiǎng zhāng | medal |
| 规章 | guī zhāng | rule |
| 印章 | yìn zhāng | seal |
| 违章 | wéi zhāng | to break the rules |
| 章节 | zhāng jié | chapter |
| 宪章 | xiàn zhāng | charter |
| 乐章 | yuè zhāng | movement (of a symphony) |
| 篇章 | piān zhāng | chapter |
| 顺理成章 | shùn lǐ chéng zhāng | logical |
| 盖章 | gài zhāng | to affix a seal |
| 章程 | zhāng chéng | rules |
| 规章制度 | guī zhāng zhì dù | rules and regulations |
章 appears in 93 compound words: 17 as the first character, 71 as the last, and 12 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 章 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
focus solely on form or appearance without emphasis on content or effectiveness; ostentatiousness
words flow from the mouth as from the pen of a master; to speak eloquently
there's something behind all this; there's more to it than meets the eye
to act in accordance with the old rules (idiom); to follow a proven formula
to agree on a three-point law; to make a few rules to be observed by everyone
focus solely on form or appearance without emphasis on content or effectiveness; ostentatiousness
words flow from the mouth as from the pen of a master; to speak eloquently
there's something behind all this; there's more to it than meets the eye
to agree on a three-point law; to make a few rules to be observed by everyone
Showing 10 of 15 idioms containing 章.
Example Sentences
这篇文章写得很好，结构清晰，论证有力。
Zhè piān wénzhāng xiě de hěn hǎo, jiégòu qīngxī, lùnzhèng yǒulì.
This article is very well written, with a clear structure and strong arguments.
...高雄校区正式启用 揭开南台湾产学合作新篇章
. . . gāo xióng jiào qū zhèng shì qǐ yòng jiē kāi nán tái wān chǎn xué gě zuò xīn piān zhāng
... The Kaohsiung campus was officially opened, opening a new chapter in industry-academia cooperation in southern Taiwan
经典赛/赖清德颁“一等景星勋章” 王贞治:这次台湾队是历年最强
jīng diǎn sài lài qīng dé bān yī děng jǐng xīng xūn zhāng wáng zhēn zhì : zhè cì tái wān duì shì lì nián zuì qiáng
Classic/Lai Qingde awarded the "First Class Jingxing Medal" Wang Zhenzhi: This time the Taiwan team is the strongest in history
...手品牌代言人赵露思,开启科学内服美学新篇章
. . . shǒu pǐn pái dài yán rén zhào lù sī , kāi qǐ kē xué nèi fú měi xué xīn piān zhāng
... Zhao Lusi, the spokesperson of the hand brand, opens a new chapter in the aesthetics of scientific internal wear
又一篇关于人工智能末日论的文章疯传,这次作者预言标普500将暴跌近40...
yòu yī piān guān yú rén gōng zhì néng mò rì lùn de wén zhāng fēng chuán , zhè cì zuò zhě yù yán biāo pǔ jiāng bào diē jìn . . .
Another article predicting the apocalypse of artificial intelligence is going viral. This time, the author forecasts the S&P 500 will plummet nearly 40%...
橫跨東西非 周大觀基金會頒生命獎章肯定人權行動者
橫 kuà 東 xī fēi zhōu dà 觀 jī jīn 會 頒 shēng mìng 獎 zhāng kěn dìng rén 權 háng 動 zhě
Across East and West Africa Chow Tai Kwan Foundation Recognizes Human Rights Activists with Medal of Life Award
章鱼小丸子真的很美味！
Zhāngyú xiǎo wánzi zhēn de hěn měiwèi!
Takoyaki is really quite delicious.
我不擅长画画，但我会写文章。
Wǒ bù shàncháng huà huà, dàn wǒ huì xiě wénzhāng.
I'm not good at drawing, but I can write.
萨米正在阅读文章。
Sà mǐ zhèngzài yuèdú wénzhāng.
Sammy is reading an article.
海绵宝宝和章鱼哥去看望派大星。
Hǎimián Bǎobǎo hé zhāngyú gē qù kànwàng pài dà xīng.
SpongeBob and Squidward went to visit Patrick Star.
Character Family
音 Radical Family — Characters sharing the sound radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 章 (zhāng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 章 have?
What is the radical of 章?
What are the components of 章?
What are common words containing 章?
What characters sound the same as 章 (zhāng)?
Is 章 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 章 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.