赃 (zāng) is a Chinese character meaning “stolen goods”. It is written from 贝 (shell) and 庄 (village; farmstead), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “stolen goods; loot”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
贝 + 庄
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS 构形（cjkvi-ids，构建期）：⿰贝庄；《简化字总表》贓→赃
Memory aid
Money (贝, the old cowrie-shell currency) stashed away inside a country manor (庄). Both parts are really in this character: money hidden where it should not be is loot — stolen goods.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 赃款zāng kuǎnillicit money; stolen money赃 = zāng
- 赃物zāng wùstolen goods; loot赃 = zāng
Go deeper
All readings
stolen goods; loot
stolen goods; loot; bribes; ill-gotten gains
偷来、抢来或贪污受贿得来的财物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 赃款zāng kuǎnillicit money; stolen money赃 = zāng
- 赃物zāng wùstolen goods; loot赃 = zāng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 赃 mean?
赃 (zāng) means stolen goods; loot; bribes; ill-gotten gains.
How do you pronounce 赃?
It is pronounced zāng.
What parts is 赃 made of?
贝 (shell) and 庄 (village; farmstead), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS 构形（cjkvi-ids，构建期）：⿰贝庄；《简化字总表》贓→赃. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 赃 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 赃?
贝. 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 赃?
Common ones are 赃款 and 赃物. The reading of 赃 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.