(zhèn): town, to suppress

(zhèn) is a Chinese character meaning “town, to suppress.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1001 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, metal. Its radical form (metal) appears in many related characters such as (qián, money), (cuò, wrong, mistake), (zhōng, clock, bell).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. town, to suppress

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅真 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
nounchéng zhèntown6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
xiǎo zhènsmall town
zhèn zitown
zhèn dìngcalm
zhèn jìngcalm
zhèn zhǎngtown headman
zhèn yāsuppression
bīng zhèniced
zhèn tòngto suppress pain
zhèn zhùto dominate
zhèn zhǐpaperweight
zuò zhèn(of a commanding officer) to keep watch
shì zhènsmall town
xiāng zhènvillage
wú zhèn yǔFrancis Ng Chun-Yu (1961-), Hong Kong actor
zhòng zhèn(military) strategic town
100
Total compounds
30
As first character
62
As last character
8
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 30 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 8 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.

jiù
0.790380,880 co-occurrences
rǎng
0.715201,006 co-occurrences
shì
0.682854,880 co-occurrences
huò
0.604378,504 co-occurrences
chéng
0.590361,349 co-occurrences
cūn
0.548208,308 co-occurrences
0.543285,456 co-occurrences
0.54055,584 co-occurrences
xiāng
0.53571,742 co-occurrences
xiá
0.50049,356 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个小以温泉闻名,每年吸引大量游客。

Zhè gè xiǎo zhèn yǐ wēnquán wénmíng, měinián xīyǐn dàliàng yóukè.

This small town is famous for its hot springs and attracts many tourists every year.

EttodayFeb 2026

高中木联/蔡辰泷飙无四死完封 平挑战连霸对决谷保

gāo zhōng mù lián 蔡 chén 泷 biāo wú sì sǐ wán fēng píng zhèn tiāo zhàn lián bà duì jué gǔ bǎo

High School Mulian/Cai Chen Longbiao did not have four deaths and shutouts, and Pingzhen challenged the consecutive championship against Gu Bao

TvbsFeb 2026

...外甥在中国“赚红钱” 陆委会:赤裸裸跨境

. . . wài shēng zài zhōng guó zhuàn hóng qián lù wěi huì : chì luǒ luǒ kuà jìng zhèn yā

... Nephew "makes red money" in China Mainland Affairs Council: Naked cross-border suppression

StheadlineFeb 2026

议政随想—谭国:《铁路立标提效 助力北都发展》

yì zhèng suí xiǎng — 谭 zhèn guó : tiě lù lì biāo tí xiào zhù lì běi dōu fā zhǎn

Political Discussion - Tan Zhenguo: "Railway Benchmarking and Improving Efficiency to Help the Development of the Northern Capital"

百度新闻Feb 2026

烟火与家常珍味,每一家餐厅都是精选丨寻味...

gǔ zhèn yān huǒ yǔ jiā cháng zhēn wèi , měi yī jiā cān tīng dōu shì jīng xuǎn 丨 xún wèi . . .

Fireworks and home-cooked delicacies in the ancient town, each restaurant is selected丨Taste...

百度新闻Feb 2026

暖意融融 走进上海机场建设者小

nuǎn yì róng róng zǒu jìn shǎng hǎi jī chǎng jiàn shè zhě xiǎo zhèn

Warmth and Hospitality: A Visit to the Shanghai Airport Construction Workers' Village

Tatoeba

我需要用药来痛。

Wǒ xūyào yòng yào lái zhèntòng.

I need some medicine to kill the pain.

Tatoeba

被暴风雨后的洪水摧毁了。

Xiǎozhèn bèi bàofēngyǔ hòu de hóngshuǐ cuīhuǐ le.

The town was destroyed by the flood after the storm.

Tatoeba

这座城发展成为了一个经济中心。

Zhè zuò chéngzhèn fāzhǎn chéngwéi le yī gè jīngjì zhōngxīn.

The town developed into the center of the economy.

Tatoeba

那小离岸边有两英里。

Nà xiǎozhèn lí'àn biān yǒu liǎng Yīnglǐ.

The town is two miles away from the coast.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhèn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 镇 (zhèn) mean in Chinese?
镇 (zhèn) primarily means "town, to suppress." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1001 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 镇 and 填?
镇 (zhèn) and 填 (tián) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 钅 vs 土 (same 真 component).
How many strokes does 镇 have?
镇 is written with 15 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 镇?
The radical associated with 镇 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 镇?
镇 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 真 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅真 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 镇?
Common words with 镇 include: 小镇 (xiǎo zhèn, "small town"); 镇子 (zhèn zi, "town"); 镇定 (zhèn dìng, "calm"); 城镇 (chéng zhèn, "town"); 镇静 (zhèn jìng, "calm"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 镇 (zhèn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhèn: 贞 (chaste), 针 (needle), 侦 (to scout), 珍 (precious thing), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 镇 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 镇 and the traditional form is 鎮.

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.