纂 (zuǎn): (literary) to compile, to edit, red silk ribbon

纂 (zuǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) to compile.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 算 (phonetic) and 糸 (semantic). It ranks #4677 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 纂 thread. Its radical form 纟 (silk) appears in many related characters such as 红 (hóng, red), 线 (xiàn, line, thread), 结 (jié, knot, result).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (literary) to compile
  2. to edit
  3. red silk ribbon

Etymology & Origin

纂

pictophoneticthread

Decomposition: ⿱算糸 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
编纂verbbiān zuǎnto compile (an encyclopedia etc)
纂修verbzuǎn xiūto compile and revise
2
Total compounds
50
As first character
50
As last character
0
As middle character

纂 appears in 2 compound words: 50 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

纂字由20笔画组成,结构很巧妙。

zuǎn zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .

The character "纂" consists of 20 strokes and has a very ingenious structure.

中国新闻网·文化Oct 2026

《资治通鉴》编纂历时19年,仅手稿便曾堆满两间屋子。

zī zhì tōng jiàn biān zuǎn lì shí 1 9 nián , jǐn shǒu gǎo biàn céng duī mǎn liǎng jiān wū zǐ .

The compilation of *Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governance* took 19 years, and the manuscripts alone once filled two rooms.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

《论语》编纂者记述孔门弟子,大多称字以示尊敬。

lùn yǔ biān zuǎn zhě jì shù kǒng mén dì zǐ , dà duō chèn zì yǐ shì zūn jìng .

The compilers of the *Analects* referred to Confucius’s disciples primarily by their courtesy names as a mark of respect.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

湖南出版集团党委书记、董事长,中南传媒董事长贺砾辉介绍了读本编纂出版全过程。

hú nán chū bǎn jí tuán dǎng wěi shū jì , dǒng shì cháng , zhōng nán chuán méi dǒng shì cháng hè 砾 huī jiè shào le dòu běn biān zuǎn chū bǎn quán guò chéng .

He Lihui, Party Secretary and Chairman of Hunan Publishing Group and Chairman of Zhongnan Media, described the entire process of compiling and publishing the reader.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

目前,谭步云正在参与编纂一部粤语正字字典,这部字典将解决“识听识讲唔识写”的问题。

mù qián , Tán bù yún zhèng zài cān yǔ biān zuǎn yī bù yuè yǔ zhèng zì zì diǎn , zhè bù zì diǎn jiāng jiě jué shí tīng shí jiǎng 唔 shí xiě de wèn tí .

Tan Buyun is currently working on compiling a dictionary of standard Cantonese characters, which will address the problem of people who “can read and listen to Cantonese and speak it, but cannot write it.”

IT之家Jun 2026

加快推动教育法典研究编纂,修订教师法等法律,健全教材管理、校外培训管理等法规制度。

jiā kuài tuī dòng jiào yù fǎ diǎn yán jiū biān zuǎn , xiū dìng jiào shī fǎ děng fǎ lǜ , jiàn quán jiào cái guǎn lǐ , jiào wài péi xùn guǎn lǐ děng fǎ guī zhì dù .

Accelerate research and compilation of the Education Code, revise laws such as the Teachers’ Law, and improve regulatory systems governing textbook management and off-campus training.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 糸 (thread) component

纟 Radical Family — Characters sharing the silk radical

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 纂 (zuǎn) mean in Chinese?
纂 (zuǎn) primarily means "(literary) to compile." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4677 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 纂 and 篡?
纂 (zuǎn) and 篡 (cuàn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 纟 vs 竹 (same 算 component).
How many strokes does 纂 have?
纂 is written with 20 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 纂?
The radical associated with 纂 is 纟 (silk). This radical appears in many characters related to silk.
What are the components of 纂?
纂 is composed of: 算 (phonetic), 糸 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱算糸 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 纂?
Common words with 纂 include: 编纂 (biān zuǎn, "to compile (an encyclopedia etc)"); 纂修 (zuǎn xiū, "to compile and revise"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.
Is 纂 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 纂 and the traditional form is 篹.

Practice writing 纂 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.