丈 (zhàng) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

丈

zhàng[zhang4]Tone 4

ten Chinese feet, measure of length, husband

HSK 4

Guru Deep Dive

English · ten Chinese feet, measure of length, husband

Cached lesson

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Topology:Single character

Strokes:3

Writing Balance Rule: The horizontal stroke acts as the stabilizing crossbar, while the curving vertical-falling stroke provides graceful balance to the right.

1. Meaning

measure of length (approx. 3.3 meters or ten traditional Chinese feet)

to measurehusbandpolite appellation for an older male

Noun / ClassifierFormal / Literary#measurement#family#society

Sample Usage

万丈高楼平地起
wàn zhàng gāo lóu píng dì qǐ
A ten-thousand-zhang high building rises from the ground.
丈夫
zhàngfu
Husband

2. Sound

/[ʈʂɑŋ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

丈

zhàngzhang4

`(51)

=zhàng

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Retroflex

Sounds like: j/dr retroflex sound

UnaspiratedRetroflex

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air. Tongue curled up. Tissue stays still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip curled back near hard palate

Final Rhyme

ang

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ang rhymes with ahng

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ahng'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and drops immediately, identical to a sharp English exclamation like 'No!' or 'Stop!'

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the retroflex initial 'zh' with the alveolar dental 'z', or mixing up Tone 4 (51) with Tone 1 or Tone 3.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, downward karate chop, starting high and dropping abruptly to signify a firm command or drop-off.

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 3 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The horizontal stroke acts as the stabilizing crossbar, while the curving vertical-falling stroke provides graceful balance to the right.

4. Components

Radical 丈 · Zhang Radical / Measure Radical (Length or measurement)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 又 (Depicts a hand holding a measuring stick or representing stature)

The character '丈' is built by combining a horizontal line representing a span or outstretched arm with the hand radical '又', depicting an adult male holding a measuring tool or standing at full height.

一 Horizontal line indicating a span or base
又 Hand or arm extension

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

3· Phonetic Root: 丈 (zhàng)

5. History

Liushu category: Indicative (指事)

Origin: In Oracle Bone scripts, '丈' was drawn as the silhouette of an adult male figure with a mark indicating height or a stride, symbolizing full adult stature and a unit of measurement based on body length.

Semantic Evolution: Originally representing a measure of height for an adult man, it extended to mean any standard unit of length (ten Chinese feet) and later became used in compound words referring to men, such as husband (丈夫).

In ancient China, one 'zhang' was approximately the height of an adult man, standardizing over dynasties to about 3.3 meters.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

trượng

The Chinese Tone 4 corresponds to the Vietnamese nặng or sắc tone contour.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ジョウ (jō)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

장

Sound Shift Bridge: The retroflex initial 'zh-' frequently corresponds to 'tr-' in Sino-Vietnamese borrowings (zhàng -> trượng).

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Picture a grown man stretching out his arm and hand (又) across a single horizontal line (一) to measure a span of ten feet. He is the master of the house, a towering husband (丈).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

杖

zhàngcane, walking stickAdd the wood radical (木) to '丈' to get a wooden walking stick.

仗

zhàngto rely on, weaponsAdd the person radical (亻) to '丈' to mean relying on a person or holding weapons.

胀

zhàngswollen, bloatedAdd the flesh/moon radical (月) to '丈' to indicate a swollen body part.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

大(dà)

'大' means big with splayed arms and legs, whereas '丈' has a horizontal top line and a hooked tail representing a measured span.

太(tài)

'太' has an extra dot under the horizontal bar, making it mean 'too' or 'very'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我的[___]是一名优秀的工程师。

Clue: zhàng fu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing '丈' (zhàng) with '大' (dà) due to their visual similarity, or forgetting the hook on the final stroke.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 丈, what unit of measurement and secondary familial role does it represent?

Production: How do you write the 3-stroke character for 'ten Chinese feet / husband'?

丈zhàngten Chinese feet, measure of length, husband

Speed:

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