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Chinese character · HSK 6

(chuàn) — “to string together / skewer”

The character is a direct pictogram of two items pierced through the center and strung together by a single stick or string.

Visual mnemonic illustration of the Chinese character 串 (to string together / skewer)
The strokes of 串 live inside the illustration — long-press in InkSeal to watch the glyph cross-fade into the scene.

How to remember 串

Two square items strung perfectly on a single vertical skewer.

Inside the character

Where 串 comes from

In oracle bone script, it was a pure pictogram depicting two or more objects (such as coins, shells, or pieces of meat) threaded together on a single line.

串 in Bronze inscription
Bronze inscription (金文)
串 in Seal script
Seal script (篆书)

Words that use 串

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
客串kè chuànguest appearance / cameoHSK 6
肉串ròu chuànmeat skewer / kebabHSK 6
串门chuàn ménto call on sb / to drop inHSK 7
Learn 串 the visual way. InkSeal pairs every HSK 1–6 character with an illustration like this one, plus component breakdowns, etymology, and spaced review. The first 100 characters are free.

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More characters: (fù, to pay / to hand over) · (rèn, to appoint / responsibility) · (xiū, to rest) — or browse the full character library.