沧

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(bound form) (of water, esp. the ocean) deep blue-green; (literary) cold

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HSK 3.0: Level 7–9
Old HSK: Level 6
Strokes: 7
Radical: 水 +4
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 滄
Common rank: #2,070
Unicode: U+6CA7

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 沧 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

氵 meaning “water” + 仓 sound ( cāng )

Components 氵仓

How to remember it

dark blue · Heisig RSH #3013

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 沧

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
海沧区	Hǎi cāng Qū	Haicang, a district of Xiamen City 廈門市\|厦门市[Xia4 men2 Shi4], Fujian
曾经沧海难为水，除却巫山不是云	céng jīng cāng hǎi nán wéi shuǐ , chú què Wū Shān bù shì yún	there are no rivers to one who has crossed the ocean, and no clouds to one who has passed …
沧州市	Cāng zhōu Shì	Cangzhou, prefecture-level city in Hebei Province 河北省[He2 bei3 Sheng3]
沧龙科	cāng lóng kē	(zoology) family Mosasauridae
沧源县	Cāng yuán Xiàn	see 滄源佤族自治縣\|沧源佤族自治县[Cang1 yuan2 Wa3 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
临沧市	Lín cāng Shì	Lincang, prefecture-level city in Yunnan Province 雲南省\|云南省[Yun2 nan2 Sheng3]
李沧区	Lǐ cāng Qū	Licang, a district of Qingdao City 青島市\|青岛市[Qing1 dao3 Shi4], Shandong
沧源佤族自治县	Cāng yuán Wǎ zú Zì zhì xiàn	Cangyuan Va Autonomous County, in Lincang City 臨滄市\|临沧市[Lin2 cang1 Shi4], Yunnan
沧海遗珠	cāng hǎi yí zhū	undiscovered talent (idiom)
沧海桑田	cāng hǎi sāng tián	lit. the blue sea turned into mulberry fields (idiom); fig. the transformations of the wor…
沧县	Cāng Xiàn	Cang County or Cangxian, a county in Cangzhou City 滄州市\|沧州市[Cang1 zhou1 Shi4], Hebei
曾经沧海	céng jīng cāng hǎi	lit. having crossed the vast ocean (idiom); fig. widely experienced in the vicissitudes of…
海沧	Hǎi cāng	see 海滄區\|海沧区[Hai3 cang1 Qu1]
沧龙	cāng lóng	(zoology) mosasaur
沧州	Cāng zhōu	see 滄州市\|沧州市[Cang1 zhou1 Shi4]
澜沧拉祜族自治县	Lán cāng Lā hù zú Zì zhì xiàn	Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, in Pu'er City 普洱市[Pu3 er3 Shi4], Yunnan
历尽沧桑	lì jìn cāng sāng	to have been through the hardships of life; to have been through the mill
沧桑感	cāng sāng gǎn	a sense of having been through good times and bad; a weathered and worn look
饱经沧桑	bǎo jīng cāng sāng	having lived through many changes
沧源	Cāng yuán	see 滄源佤族自治縣\|沧源佤族自治县[Cang1 yuan2 Wa3 zu2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 仓 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
仓 sound part	cāng	granary, barn; cabin, berth
枪	qiāng	gun, rife; lance, spear
创	chuàng	to establish, to create; cut, wound, trauma
苍	cāng	dark blue; deep green; old, hoary
抢	qiǎng	urgent, rushed; to rob, to plunder
疮	chuāng	boil, tumor; wound, sore
呛	qiàng	choking, as by smoke; something that irritates the nose or throat
跄	qiàng	to stagger, to stumble
戗	qiāng	to support
怆	chuàng	sad, disconsolate, broken-hearted
鸧	cāng	oriole
炝	qiàng	to stir-fry; to cook in sauce