冢 meaning and stroke order
Burial mound, mausoleum; grand
How to write 冢, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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- 10
Meaning of 冢
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- mound
- burial mound
- senior (i.e. eldest child or senior in rank)
- burial mound (variant of 冢[zhong3])
How 冢 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Shroud.
冖 gives the meaning and 豖 hints at the sound.
Radical: 冖 (cover), shared by 14 characters on this site.
How to remember 冢
The top part 冖 is a cover, like a shroud laid over the dead, and 豖 below gives the sound. Picture a body covered by a shroud and then by a heap of earth, and you have 冢 (zhǒng), a burial mound.
冢 is a formal, literary word for a tomb or grave mound, mostly seen in place names, historical writing and set phrases. A common modern phrase is 衣冠冢 (yīguānzhǒng), a tomb holding only the clothes of the deceased. Example: 这是一座古冢。(Zhè shì yí zuò gǔ zhǒng.) This is an ancient burial mound.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 冢 with 家 (jiā, home), which has 宀 with a dot on top instead of the flat 冖. 豖 also has an extra stroke compared with 豕, so 冢 is not simply 冖 plus 豕.
Characters that contain 冢
Learning 冢 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 冢
How many strokes are in 冢?
冢 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 冢 mean?
冢 (zhǒng) means burial mound, mausoleum; grand.
How do you pronounce 冢?
冢 is pronounced zhǒng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 冢?
The radical of 冢 is 冖, which carries the idea of "cover". Dictionaries list 冢 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 冢?
The traditional form of 冢 is 塚. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 冢 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
How is 冢 different from 坟 (fén) and 墓 (mù)?
坟 and 墓 are the everyday words for a grave, as in 坟墓 (fénmù). 冢 sounds older and more literary, and it often suggests a large raised mound.
Does 冢 have any meaning besides tomb?
Yes. In classical Chinese it can mean senior or eldest, as in 冢子 (zhǒngzǐ), the eldest son, and it can also mean grand. These senses are rare in modern speech.