苍

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dark blue; deep green; ash-gray

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HSK 3.0: Level 7–9
Old HSK: Level 6
Strokes: 7
Radical: 艸 +4
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 蒼
Common rank: #1,432
Unicode: U+82CD

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 苍 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

艹 meaning “grass” + 仓 sound ( cāng )

Components 艹仓

How to remember it

ash-colored · Heisig RSH #2455

flower + 仓 storehouse

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 苍

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
苍白无力	cāng bái wú lì	pale and feeble; powerless
苍南县	Cāng nán Xiàn	Cangnan, a county in Wenzhou City 溫州市\|温州市[Wen1 zhou1 Shi4], Zhejiang
苍白色	cāng bái sè	pale; wan; sickly white
苍背山雀	cāng bèi shān què	(bird species of China) cinereous tit (Parus cinereus)
白云苍狗	bái yún cāng gǒu	lit. a white cloud transforms into what looks like a gray dog (idiom); fig. the unpredicta…
白衣苍狗	bái yī cāng gǒu	lit. (cloud shapes) changing from a white shirt to a gray dog (idiom); fig. the unpredicta…
苍头燕雀	cāng tóu yàn què	(bird species of China) Eurasian chaffinch; common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
苍生	cāng shēng	(area where) vegetation grows; the common people
苍天	cāng tiān	firmament
苍白	cāng bái	pale; wan
上苍	shàng cāng	Heaven; God
白发苍苍	bái fà cāng cāng	old and gray-haired
苍南	Cāng nán	see 蒼南縣\|苍南县[Cang1 nan2 Xian4]
苍老	cāng lǎo	old; aged; (of calligraphy or painting) vigorous; forceful
苍黄	cāng huáng	greenish yellow; sallow (pale or yellow complexion); variant of 倉皇\|仓皇[cang1 huang2]
苍龙	Cāng lóng	Blue Dragon, other name of the Azure Dragon 青龍\|青龙 (the seven mansions of the east sky)
苍溪县	Cāng xī Xiàn	Cangxi, a county in Guangyuan City 廣元市\|广元市[Guang3 yuan2 Shi4], Sichuan
苍耳	cāng ěr	Siberian cocklebur (botany)
苍术	cāng zhú	black atractylodes rhizome (dried rhizome of any of several atractylodes species) (TCM)
无头苍蝇	wú tóu cāng ying	headless fly (a metaphor for sb who is rushing around frantically)

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
抢	qiǎng	urgent, rushed; to rob, to plunder
疮	chuāng	boil, tumor; wound, sore
沧	cāng	azure, cold, vast (all as of the sea)
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