巷 meaning and stroke order
Alley, lane
How to write 巷, stroke by stroke
9 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 巷
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- lane
- alley
How 巷 is built
Components of the character.
Radical: 巳 (the hours from 9 to 11), shared by 6 characters on this site.
How to remember 巷
巷 is built from 共 (gòng, together, shared) on top of 巳. Picture a narrow path that neighbors share together, squeezed between houses, and you have a lane or alley.
巷 usually appears in words like 巷子 (xiàngzi) and 小巷 (xiǎoxiàng) for small, narrow lanes, often in old neighborhoods. The idiom 大街小巷 (dàjiē-xiǎoxiàng) means everywhere in a city. Example: 这首歌传遍了大街小巷。(Zhè shǒu gē chuánbiàn le dàjiē-xiǎoxiàng.) This song spread all over town.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 巷 (xiàng) with 港 (gǎng, harbor), which adds the water radical 氵 on the left. Also keep the fourth tone xiàng, and do not confuse it with 向 (xiàng, toward), which sounds the same.
Common words with 巷
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
巷 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 巷
Learning 巷 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 巷
How many strokes are in 巷?
巷 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 巷 mean?
巷 (xiàng) means alley, lane. A common word with it is 大街小巷 (dàjiē-xiǎoxiàng), meaning "great streets and small alleys (idiom); everywhere in the city".
How do you pronounce 巷?
巷 is pronounced xiàng, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 巷?
The radical of 巷 is 巳, which carries the idea of "the hours from 9 to 11". Dictionaries list 巷 under this radical.
Is 巷 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 巷 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 巷子 and 胡同?
Both mean a narrow lane. 胡同 (hútòng) is strongly linked to Beijing and northern China. 巷子 is a more general word used widely, especially in the south.
Does 巷 have any other pronunciation?
In everyday Mandarin you can treat 巷 as xiàng. That is the reading used in all the common words here, such as 巷子 and 小巷.