讼 (sòng) is a Chinese character meaning “to bring a case to court”. It is written from 讠 (speech radical) and 公 (public; common; fair), side by side, and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “to go to law; lawsuit”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
讠 + 公
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+8BBC 现代字形与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（6 画 = 讠 2 画 + 公 4 画）；讠 为义符，公 gōng 与本字 sòng 同韵母 -ong、声母不同，作声符
Memory aid
Words (讠) dragged out in public (公): once a quarrel leaves the house and is argued in front of everyone, it has become a lawsuit.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 诉讼sù sònglawsuit; litigation讼 = sòng
Go deeper
All readings
to go to law; lawsuit
to bring a case to court; to dispute in front of a judge; litigation
在法庭上争辩是非曲直；打官司。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 诉讼sù sònglawsuit; litigation讼 = sòng
Sound component
公 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 讼 mean?
讼 (sòng) means to bring a case to court; to dispute in front of a judge; litigation.
How do you pronounce 讼?
It is pronounced sòng.
What parts is 讼 made of?
讠 (speech radical) and 公 (public; common; fair), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+8BBC 现代字形与 hanzi-writer-data 笔顺核验（6 画 = 讠 2 画 + 公 4 画）；讠 为义符，公 gōng 与本字 sòng 同韵母 -ong、声母不同，作声符. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 讼 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 讼?
讠. 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 讼?
Common ones are 诉讼. The reading of 讼 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.