嫦 meaning and stroke order
A moon goddess, the lady in the moon
How to write 嫦, stroke by stroke
14 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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Meaning of 嫦
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- used in 嫦娥[Chang2 e2]
- used in female given names
How 嫦 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Woman.
女 gives the meaning and 常 hints at the sound.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 嫦
嫦 is a woman 女 (nǚ) on the left with 常 (cháng) on the right giving the sound. Picture a woman who is always (常) up in the sky every night: the moon lady.
嫦 almost only appears in 嫦娥 (Cháng'é), the goddess who lives on the moon, and it is sometimes used in girls' names. The name is also used for China's lunar exploration program. Example: 中秋节的时候，妈妈给我讲嫦娥的故事。(Zhōngqiū jié de shíhou, māma gěi wǒ jiǎng Cháng'é de gùshi.) At the Mid-Autumn Festival, Mom tells me the story of Chang'e.
Common mistake: Learners often write the plain character 常 (cháng) and forget the 女 radical, or confuse 嫦 with 婵 (chán), which appears in 婵娟, another poetic word linked to the moon. Remember that 嫦 is second tone and pairs with 娥 (é), not 蛾 (é, moth).
Common words with 嫦
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 嫦娥 | Cháng'é | Chang'e, the lady in the moon (Chinese mythology); one of the Chang'e series of PRC lunar | HSK 7-9 |
Questions about 嫦
How many strokes are in 嫦?
嫦 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嫦 mean?
嫦 (cháng) means a moon goddess, the lady in the moon. A common word with it is 嫦娥 (Cháng'é), meaning "Chang'e, the lady in the moon (Chinese mythology); one of the Chang'e series of PRC lunar ".
How do you pronounce 嫦?
嫦 is pronounced cháng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 嫦?
The radical of 嫦 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 嫦 under this radical.
Is 嫦 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 嫦 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 嫦 be used on its own as a word?
No. In modern Chinese 嫦 is not used by itself. You will see it in 嫦娥 or as part of a personal name.
Who is Chang'e in the story?
In the legend, Chang'e drank an elixir of immortality and floated up to the moon, where she lives with a jade rabbit. The story is closely tied to the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, Zhōngqiū jié).