宗 (zōng): school, sect, purpose
宗 (zōng) is a Chinese character meaning “school.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (structural) and 示 (structural). It ranks #727 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 宗 an altar 示 to the ancestor spirits found in one's home 宀. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 家 (jiā, home, family), 它 (tā, it).
Definitions
- school
- sect
- purpose
Etymology & Origin
ideographicAn altar 示 to the ancestor spirits found in one's home 宀
Decomposition: ⿱宀示 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 宗 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 宗教noun | zōng jiào | religion |
| 卷宗noun | juàn zōng | file |
| 正宗adjective | zhèng zōng | orthodox school |
| 宗旨noun | zōng zhǐ | objective |
| 祖宗noun | zǔ zōng | ancestor |
| 大宗noun | dà zōng | large amount |
| 禅宗noun | chán zōng | Zen Buddhism |
| 宗庙noun | zōng miào | temple |
| 教宗noun | jiào zōng | pope |
| 传宗接代phrase | chuán zōng jiē dài | to carry on one's ancestral line |
| 宗师noun | zōng shī | great scholar respected for learning and integrity |
| 宗派noun | zōng pài | sect |
| 高宗proper-noun | gāo zōng | Gaozong, the temple name of various emperors, notably 唐高宗, 宋高宗 and 清高宗[Qing1 Gao1... |
| 宗族noun | zōng zú | clan |
| 左宗棠 | zuǒ zōng táng | Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), Chinese administrator and military leader |
宗 appears in 100 compound words: 23 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 15 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 宗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to carry on one's ancestral line; to go on from generation to generation
to make clear the main idea at the beginning in one's speech or writing
to carry on one's ancestral line; to go on from generation to generation
to make clear the main idea at the beginning in one's speech or writing
Example Sentences
宗字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
zōng zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "宗" has different usages in different contexts.
MLB》郑宗哲热身赛首扛先发游击 全场2支0、敲16...
M L B zhèng zōng zhé rè shēn sài shǒu gāng xiān fā yóu jī quán chǎng 2 zhī 0 , qiāo 1 6 . . .
MLB" Zheng Zongzhe started the starting shortstop in the warm-up game, 2-for-0, knocked 16...
密宗灌顶变性骚! 佛大硕生被仁波切狂摸下体:...
mì zōng guàn dǐng biàn xìng sāo ! fó dà shuò shēng bèi rén bō qiē kuáng mō xià tǐ : . . .
Tantric empowerment transsexuality! Buddha University Master Sheng was touched by Rinpoche's lower body:
TVB视帝黄宗泽晒童年照吸引4千万人围观 6岁潮男Ch...
T V B shì dì huáng zōng zé shài tóng nián zhào xī yǐn 4 qiān wàn rén wéi guàn 6 suì cháo nán C h . . .
TVB TV emperor Huang Zongze posted childhood photos to attract 40 million onlookers 6-year-old trendy man Ch...
港置周末10大屋苑录得约2宗成交按周下跌约50%
gǎng zhì zhōu mò 1 0 dà wū 苑 lù dé yuē 2 zōng chéng jiāo àn zhōu xià diē yuē 5 0
Hong Kong Property's top 10 housing estates recorded about 2 transactions over the weekend, down about 50% week-on-week
WBC/去年上大联盟又下放! 郑宗哲WBC拚“打出身价”
W B C qù nián shàng dà lián méng yòu xià fàng ! zhèng zōng zhé W B C 拚 dǎ chū shēn jià
WBC/Last year's major leagues were delegated again! Zheng Zongzhe WBC fights to "play the price"
他们属于哪一个佛教宗派？
Tāmen shǔyú nǎyīge Fójiào zōngpài?
Which Buddhist school of thought do they belong to?
佛教思想分为哪一些宗派？
Fójiào sīxiǎng fēnwéi nǎ yīxiē zōngpài?
Which schools is Buddhist thought divided into?
你曾是一宗司法案件的证人？
Nǐ céng shì yī zōng sīfǎ ànjiàn de zhèngrén?
Have you ever served as a witness in a court case?
你还信奉你的宗教吗？
Nǐ hái xìnfèng nǐ de zōngjiào ma?
Do you still practise your religion?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 宗 (zōng) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 宗 have?
What is the radical of 宗?
What are the components of 宗?
What are common words containing 宗?
What characters sound the same as 宗 (zōng)?
Is 宗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 宗 with real-time feedback
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