衷 (zhōng): inner feelings
衷 (zhōng) is a Chinese character meaning “inner feelings.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 衣 (structural) and 中 (structural). It ranks #2110 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 衷 a person in a robe 衣 with his heart 中 marked; 中 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 衤 (clothing) appears in many related characters such as 衣 (yī, clothing), 表 (biǎo, exterior surface), 装 (zhuāng, dress, install).
Definitions
- inner feelings
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person in a robe 衣 with his heart 中 marked; 中 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿻衣中 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 衷 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 热衷 | rè zhōng | to feel strongly about |
| 衷心 | zhōng xīn | heartfelt |
| 无动于衷 | wú dòng yú zhōng | aloof |
| 初衷 | chū zhōng | original intention |
| 由衷 | yóu zhōng | heartfelt |
| 苦衷 | kǔ zhōng | secret trouble |
| 折衷 | zhé zhōng | variant of 折中[zhe2 zhong1] |
| 言不由衷 | yán bù yóu zhōng | to say sth without meaning it (idiom) |
| 莫衷一是 | mò zhōng yī shì | unable to reach a decision (idiom) |
| 隐衷 | yǐn zhōng | a secret |
| 折衷主义 | zhé zhōng zhǔ yì | eclecticism |
| 互诉衷肠 | hù sù zhōng cháng | (idiom) to confide in each other |
| 倾吐衷肠 | qīng tǔ zhōng cháng | to pour out (emotions) |
| 丹衷 | dān zhōng | real sincerity |
| 折衷鹦鹉 | zhé zhōng yīng wǔ | Eclectus roratus (red-green parrot of Papua-New Guinea) |
衷 appears in 15 compound words: 7 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 33 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 衷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
衷字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。
zhōng zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .
The character "衷" may be difficult to write, but its meaning is quite interesting.
...蜜桃》女神单身10年不追爱 亲吐转性感苦衷
. . . mì táo nǚ shén dān shēn 1 0 nián bù zhuī ài qīn tǔ zhuǎn xìng gǎn kǔ zhōng
美国人突然热衷申请加拿大公民?
měi guó rén tū rán rè zhōng shēn qǐng jiā ná dà gōng mín ?
Why are Americans suddenly so eager to apply for Canadian citizenship?
丝绸之路形成的初衷并非是贸易。
Sīchóuzhī Lù xíngchéng de chūzhōng bìngfēi shì màoyì.
The original purpose of the Silk Road was not for trade.
衷心祝贺你的生日，穆里尔！
Zhōngxīn zhùhè nǐ de shēngrì, Mùlǐ'ěr!
Congratulations for your birthday, Muriel!
他不仅是对这个有兴趣，并相当热衷。
Tā bù jǐn shì duì zhège yǒuxìngqù, bìng xiāngdāng rèzhōng.
He is not just interested, he's crazy about it.
不能忘记自己的初衷。
Bù néng wàngjì zìjǐ de chūzhōng.
You shouldn't forget your original intentions.
在此仅代表本公司向各位致上衷心的谢意。
Zàicǐ jǐn dàibiǎo běn gōngsī xiàng gèwèi zhì shàng zhōngxīn de xièyì.
On behalf of the company, I would like to express our hearty thanks to you all.
Character Family
衤 Radical Family — Characters sharing the clothing radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 衷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 衷 with real-time feedback
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