踪 (zōng): trace, track

踪 (zōng) is a Chinese character meaning “trace, track.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 足 (semantic) and 宗 (phonetic). It ranks #1522 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 踪 foot. Its radical form 足 (foot) appears in many related characters such as 跑 (pǎo, to run), 跟 (gēn, follow, heel), 路 (lù, road).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. trace, track

Etymology & Origin

踪

pictophoneticfoot

Decomposition: ⿰足宗 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

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

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 踪

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
跟踪verbgēn zōngto follow sb's tracks6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
失踪verbshī zōngto be missing
追踪verbzhuī zōngto track
行踪nounxíng zōngwhereabouts
踪迹nounzōng jìtracks
踪影nounzōng yǐngtrace
无影无踪phrasewú yǐng wú zōng(idiom) (to disappear) without a trace
不知所踪bù zhī suǒ zōngto vanish without a trace
来去无踪lái qù wú zōngcome without a shadow, leave without a footprint (idiom)
一去无影踪yī qù wú yǐng zōnggone without a trace
来无影,去无踪lái wú yǐng , qù wú zōnglit. come without a shadow, leave without a footprint (idiom)
来踪去迹lái zōng qù jì(lit.) the traces of a person's movements (idiom)
追踪报导zhuī zōng bào dǎofollow-up report
光线追踪nounguāng xiàn zhuī zōng(computing) ray tracing
无踪wú zōng(to vanish) without a trace
追踪调查zhuī zōng diào cháfollow-up study
27
Total compounds
7
As first character
63
As last character
30
As middle character

踪 appears in 27 compound words: 7 as the first character, 63 as the last, and 30 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 踪 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

追zhuī
0.71848,264 co-occurrences
星xīng
0.59140,824 co-occurrences
跟gēn
0.5527,488 co-occurrences
失shī
0.53115,213 co-occurrences
概gài
0.52523 co-occurrences
行xíng
0.52042,376 co-occurrences
迹jì
0.4541,572 co-occurrences
嫌xián
0.42411 co-occurrences
念niàn
0.42023 co-occurrences
毙bì
0.41710 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

来踪去迹lái zōng qù jìHSK 6+

(lit.) the traces of a person's movements (idiom); (fig.) sb's history; the ins and out of a matter

phrase
无影无踪wúyǐngwúzōngHSK 6+

without a trace; vanished into thin air

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

警察正在追踪嫌疑人的下落。

Jǐngchá zhèngzài zhuīzōng xiányírén de xiàluò.

The police are tracking the suspect's whereabouts.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...小便后甩一甩是进化遗留行为吗?祖先为防追踪气味而甩干吗

. . . xiǎo biàn hòu shuǎi yī shuǎi shì jìn huà yí liú háng wéi ma ? zǔ xiān wéi fáng zhuī zōng qì wèi ér shuǎi gān ma

Is shaking off urine after urination an evolutionary remnant? Did our ancestors shake off urine to avoid leaving a scent trail?

Orientaldaily MyFeb 2026

墨西哥毒枭密会情妇曝行踪 躲灌木丛驳火中枪惨死

mò xī gē dú 枭 mì huì qíng fù pù háng zōng duǒ guàn mù cóng bó huǒ zhōng qiāng cǎn sǐ

Mexican Drug Lord Reveals Whereabouts During Secret Meeting with Mistress, Dies in Shootout While Hiding in Bushes

InvestingFeb 2026

港股概念追踪 | 春晚人形机器人爆火出圈!机构预计今...

gǎng gǔ gài niàn zhuī zōng chūn wǎn rén xíng jī qì rén bào huǒ chū juān ! jī gòu yù jì jīn . . .

Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracker | Spring Festival Gala Humanoid Robot Goes Viral! Institutions Project...

InvestingFeb 2026

港股概念追踪 | 存储芯片涨价潮愈演愈烈 行业全面进...

gǎng gǔ gài niàn zhuī zōng cún chǔ xīn piàn zhǎng jià cháo yù yǎn yù liè háng yè quán miàn jìn . . .

Hong Kong Stock Market Concept Tracker | Memory Chip Price Hikes Intensify as Industry Enters Full-Scale...

NewsFeb 2026

...园遭击毙 21岁嫌身分曝光!家人才刚报失踪

. . . yuán zāo jī bì suì xián shēn fēn pù guāng ! jiā rén cái gāng bào shī zōng

...Park Shot Dead: 21-Year-Old Suspect's Identity Revealed! Family Had Just Reported Him Missing

Tatoeba

猎人跟着熊的踪迹。

Lièrén gēnzhe xióng de zōngjì.

The hunter followed the bear tracks.

Tatoeba

他消失了,不留一丝踪迹。

Tā xiāoshī le, bù liú yī sī zōngjì.

He vanished without a trace.

Tatoeba

狮子在跟踪它的猎物。

Shīzi zài gēnzōng tā de lièwù.

The lion is stalking its prey.

Tatoeba

在人群中,我们失去了那个男人的踪影。

Zài rénqún zhōng, wǒmen shīqù le nàge nánrén de zōngyǐng.

We lost sight of the man in the crowd.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 足 (foot) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zōng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 踪 (zōng) mean in Chinese?
踪 (zōng) primarily means "trace, track." It is classified as HSK Level 6, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1522 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 踪 and 崇?
踪 (zōng) and 崇 (chóng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 足 vs 山 (same 宗 component).
How many strokes does 踪 have?
踪 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 踪?
The radical associated with 踪 is 足 (foot). This radical appears in many characters related to foot.
What are the components of 踪?
踪 is composed of: 足 (semantic), 宗 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰足宗 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 踪?
Common words with 踪 include: 失踪 (shī zōng, "to be missing"); 跟踪 (gēn zōng, "to follow sb's tracks"); 追踪 (zhuī zōng, "to track"); 行踪 (xíng zōng, "whereabouts"); 踪迹 (zōng jì, "tracks"). There are over 27 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 踪 (zōng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zōng: 综 ((bound form) to synthesize), 棕 (palm), 粽 (rice dumplings wrapped in leaves), 总 (always, total), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 踪 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 踪 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 踪 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.