成 (chéng) is a Chinese character meaning “to become”. It is written from 厂 (factory; cliff radical) and 戈 (dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62), and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to become; to succeed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
厂 + 戈
Overlapping structure
- 厂 factory; cliff radical · chǎng unknown
- 戈 dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62 · gē unknown
Structure from: Kangxi radical assignment 戈部 (U+6210) plus hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 six-stroke modern glyph inspection: strokes 1-2 match 厂, strokes 3-6 form the 戈 frame
Memory aid
A halberd (戈) is finished and hung up under the shed roof (厂): the job is done, it has become (成) something real.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 成功chéng gōngto succeed; success成 = chéng
- 成人chéng rénadult; grown-up成 = chéng
- 卓有成效zhuó yǒu chéng xiàohighly effective; producing remarkable results成 = chéng
- 完成wán chéngto complete; to finish成 = chéngHSK 3
- 成为chéng wéito become; to turn into成 = chéng
- 茁壮成长zhuó zhuàng chéng zhǎngto grow up strong and healthy; to thrive成 = chéng
- 养成yǎng chéngto form (a habit); to cultivate成 = chéng
- 成绩chéng jìresult; grade; score; achievement成 = chéng
- 组成zǔ chéngto form; to make up; to compose成 = chéngHSK 4
Go deeper
All readings
to become; to succeed
to become; to turn into; to accomplish; to succeed; fully grown
完成、实现；变为、成为；也指已经长大定型的。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 成功chéng gōngto succeed; success成 = chéng
- 成人chéng rénadult; grown-up成 = chéng
- 卓有成效zhuó yǒu chéng xiàohighly effective; producing remarkable results成 = chéng
- 完成wán chéngto complete; to finish成 = chéngHSK 3
- 成为chéng wéito become; to turn into成 = chéng
- 茁壮成长zhuó zhuàng chéng zhǎngto grow up strong and healthy; to thrive成 = chéng
- 养成yǎng chéngto form (a habit); to cultivate成 = chéng
- 成绩chéng jìresult; grade; score; achievement成 = chéng
- 组成zǔ chéngto form; to make up; to compose成 = chéngHSK 4
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 成 mean?
成 (chéng) means to become; to turn into; to accomplish; to succeed; fully grown.
How do you pronounce 成?
It is pronounced chéng.
What parts is 成 made of?
厂 (factory; cliff radical) and 戈 (dagger-axe (ancient pole weapon); Kangxi radical 62). The recorded source is: Kangxi radical assignment 戈部 (U+6210) plus hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 six-stroke modern glyph inspection: strokes 1-2 match 厂, strokes 3-6 form the 戈 frame. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 成 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 成?
戈. 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 成?
Common ones are 成功 and 成人. The reading of 成 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.