萧

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(old) Chinese mugwort; (bound form) desolate; dreary

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HSK 3.0: Level 7–9
Strokes: 11
Radical: 艸 +8
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 蕭
Common rank: #2,254
Unicode: U+8427

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 萧 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

肃 meaning “solemn” + 艹 sound ( cǎo )

Components 艹肃

How to remember it

desolate · Heisig RSH #2214

flower + 肃 solemn

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 萧

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
萧一山	Xiāo Yī shān	Xiao Yishan (1902-1978), Modern historian of the Qing dynasty
萧山区	Xiāo shān Qū	Xiaoshan, a district of Hangzhou City 杭州市[Hang2 zhou1 Shi4], Zhejiang
经济萧条	jīng jì xiāo tiáo	economic depression
大萧条	Dà Xiāo tiáo	the Great Depression (1929-c. 1939)
萧万长	Xiāo Wàn cháng	Vincent C. Siew (1939-), Taiwanese diplomat and Kuomintang politician, prime minister 1997…
四壁萧然	sì bì xiāo rán	four bare walls
萧伯纳	Xiāo bó nà	George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish dramatist and writer
萧子显	Xiāo Zǐ xiǎn	Xiao Zixian (487-537), writer and historian of Liang of Southern Dynasties, compiler of Hi…
萧县	Xiāo Xiàn	Xiao County or Xiaoxian, a county in Suzhou City 宿州市[Su4 zhou1 Shi4], Anhui
萧山	Xiāo shān	see 蕭山區\|萧山区[Xiao1 shan1 Qu1]
萧红	Xiāo Hóng	Xiao Hong (1911-1942), prominent woman writer, originally from Heilongjiang
萧然	xiāo rán	desolate; empty
成也萧何，败也萧何	chéng yě Xiāo Hé , bài yě Xiāo Hé	lit. raised up by Xiao He, cast down by Xiao He (idiom), alluding to Han Xin 韓信\|韩信[Han2 Xi…
萧条	xiāo tiáo	bleak; desolate; (economics) in a slump; sluggish; depressed
萧索	xiāo suǒ	bleak; desolate; melancholy
萧规曹随	Xiāo guī Cáo suí	lit. Xiao's 蕭何\|萧何[Xiao1 He2] governance followed by Cao 曹參\|曹参[Cao2 Can1] (idiom); fig. to …
萧何	Xiāo Hé	Xiao He (-193 BC), famous strategist and chancellor, fought on Liu Bang's 劉邦\|刘邦[Liu2 Bang1…
萧梁	Xiāo Liáng	Liang of the Southern dynasties (502-557)
萧邦	Xiāo bāng	(Tw) Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), Polish pianist and composer
萧墙	xiāo qiáng	(literary) screen wall shielding an entrance in traditional Chinese architecture

Sound family

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
艹 sound part	cǎo	grass, weed, plant, herb
爇	ruò	to burn
雈	huán	owl