晨 (chén) is a Chinese character meaning “morning”. It is written from 日 (sun; day) and 辰 (the fifth Earthly Branch; time, day), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “morning”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
日 + 辰
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形上下结构：第 1–4 笔为日，第 5–11 笔为辰）
Memory aid
The sun (日) rises over 辰, an old word for a time of day. Sun plus time-of-day: the early morning.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 凌晨líng chénearly morning; the hours before dawn晨 = chén
Go deeper
All readings
morning
morning; early part of the day
清早，太阳出来前后的一段时间。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 凌晨líng chénearly morning; the hours before dawn晨 = chén
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 晨 mean?
晨 (chén) means morning; early part of the day.
How do you pronounce 晨?
It is pronounced chén.
What parts is 晨 made of?
日 (sun; day) and 辰 (the fifth Earthly Branch; time, day), one above the other. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形上下结构：第 1–4 笔为日，第 5–11 笔为辰）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 晨 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 晨?
日. 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 晨?
Common ones are 凌晨. The reading of 晨 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.