睁 (zhēng) is a Chinese character meaning “to open (the eyes)”. It is written from 目 (eye) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to open (the eyes)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
目 + 争
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰目争，5+6=11 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源
Memory aid
An eye (目) in a struggle (争): fighting off sleep, you force your eyes open.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 睁开zhēng kāito open (one’s eyes)睁 = zhēng
- 睁眼zhēng yǎnto open one’s eyes睁 = zhēng
Go deeper
All readings
to open (the eyes)
to open (the eyes)
张开眼睛。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 睁开zhēng kāito open (one’s eyes)睁 = zhēng
- 睁眼zhēng yǎnto open one’s eyes睁 = zhēng
Sound component
争 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 睁 mean?
睁 (zhēng) means to open (the eyes).
How do you pronounce 睁?
It is pronounced zhēng.
What parts is 睁 made of?
目 (eye) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰目争，5+6=11 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 睁 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 睁?
目. 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 睁?
Common ones are 睁开 and 睁眼. The reading of 睁 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.