爽 (shuǎng) is a Chinese character meaning “cool and refreshing”. It is written from 大 (big) and 爻 (the crossed lines of a divination trigram) and 爻 (the crossed lines of a divination trigram), and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “refreshing; frank”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
大 + 爻 + 爻
Overlapping structure
- 大 big · dà unknown
- 爻 the crossed lines of a divination trigram · yáo unknown
- 爻 the crossed lines of a divination trigram · yáo unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+723D; modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1, 10, 11 form 大; strokes 2-5 are a 爻 on the left and strokes 6-9 a 爻 on the right, both set across the arms of 大)
Memory aid
A big person (大) stands with arms spread wide, and a pair of criss-cross marks (爻) flutters on each side of the body — like a cool breeze blowing through. That open, airy feeling is 爽: refreshing and at ease.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 凉爽liáng shuǎngpleasantly cool; nice and cool爽 = shuǎng
- 清爽qīng shuǎngfresh and cool; clean and refreshing爽 = shuǎng
Go deeper
All readings
refreshing; frank
cool and refreshing; clear and bright; frank, straightforward; feeling good; (formal) to fail to keep (a promise)
清凉舒适；明朗、清亮；性格直率痛快；身心舒服。也指违背、失约（如「爽约」）。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 凉爽liáng shuǎngpleasantly cool; nice and cool爽 = shuǎng
- 清爽qīng shuǎngfresh and cool; clean and refreshing爽 = shuǎng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 爽 mean?
爽 (shuǎng) means cool and refreshing; clear and bright; frank, straightforward; feeling good; (formal) to fail to keep (a promise).
How do you pronounce 爽?
It is pronounced shuǎng.
What parts is 爽 made of?
大 (big) and 爻 (the crossed lines of a divination trigram) and 爻 (the crossed lines of a divination trigram). The recorded source is: Unicode U+723D; modern decomposition checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1, 10, 11 form 大; strokes 2-5 are a 爻 on the left and strokes 6-9 a 爻 on the right, both set across the arms of 大). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 爽 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 爽?
爻. 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 爽?
Common ones are 凉爽 and 清爽. The reading of 爽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.