仗 (zhàng) is a Chinese character meaning “a battle”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 丈 (zhang; ten chi), side by side, and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “battle”
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Structure
亻 + 丈
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（⿰亻丈），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验；丈 zhàng 与 仗 zhàng 读音一致，判为声符
Memory aid
A person (亻) next to a ten-foot pole (丈): someone who takes up something that long is going into a fight — 仗, a battle.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 打仗dǎ zhàngto fight a war; to go into battle仗 = zhàng
- 胜仗shèng zhànga victorious battle; a win in war仗 = zhàng
Go deeper
All readings
battle
a battle; a war; also: to hold (a weapon), to rely on someone or something
战斗、战争；也指拿着（兵器）或依靠、凭借。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 打仗dǎ zhàngto fight a war; to go into battle仗 = zhàng
- 胜仗shèng zhànga victorious battle; a win in war仗 = zhàng
Sound component
丈 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 仗 mean?
仗 (zhàng) means a battle; a war; also: to hold (a weapon), to rely on someone or something.
How do you pronounce 仗?
It is pronounced zhàng.
What parts is 仗 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 丈 (zhang; ten chi), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（⿰亻丈），已对照 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验；丈 zhàng 与 仗 zhàng 读音一致，判为声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 仗 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 仗?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 仗?
Common ones are 打仗 and 胜仗. The reading of 仗 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.