沧 (cāng) is a Chinese character meaning “dark blue or blue-green, said of water”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 仓 (storehouse; granary), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “dark blue (of the sea)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 仓
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 仓 4 画；部首取康熙 85 水部；声符判断只依据实测现代读音（仓 cāng / 沧 cāng 声母、韵母、声调全同）
Memory aid
Water (氵) as wide as a granary (仓) is deep — a sea so vast it turns dark blue. Both parts really are in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 沧海cāng hǎithe blue sea; the vast ocean沧 = cāng
- 沧桑cāng sāngthe changes of life; vicissitudes沧 = cāng
Go deeper
All readings
dark blue (of the sea)
dark blue or blue-green, said of water; vast, as of the open sea
水呈青绿色；多用来形容大海的深阔。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 沧海cāng hǎithe blue sea; the vast ocean沧 = cāng
- 沧桑cāng sāngthe changes of life; vicissitudes沧 = cāng
Sound component
仓 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 沧 mean?
沧 (cāng) means dark blue or blue-green, said of water; vast, as of the open sea.
How do you pronounce 沧?
It is pronounced cāng.
What parts is 沧 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 仓 (storehouse; granary), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分，以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 仓 4 画；部首取康熙 85 水部；声符判断只依据实测现代读音（仓 cāng / 沧 cāng 声母、韵母、声调全同）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 沧 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 沧?
氵. 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 沧?
Common ones are 沧海 and 沧桑. The reading of 沧 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.