沈 (shěn) is a Chinese character meaning “a Chinese surname”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 冘 (yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “Shen — the surname, and the city 沈阳”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 冘
Left–right structure
- 氵 water (left-side form) · shuǐ meaning
- 冘 yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽 · yín sound
Structure from: 说文解字：沈，陵上滈水也。从水冘聲（现代字形拆分对照笔顺数据核验：氵 3 画 + 冘 4 画 = 7 画）
Memory aid
Three drops of water (氵) on the left, 冘 on the right carrying the sound side. Picture a city that sits by the water — that is 沈阳, Shenyang.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 沈阳Shěn yángShenyang (capital of Liaoning Province)沈 = shěn
Go deeper
All readings
Shen (surname; place name)
a Chinese surname; the place-name element in 沈阳 (Shenyang)
姓氏用字；也用于地名「沈阳」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 沈阳Shěn yángShenyang (capital of Liaoning Province)沈 = shěn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 沈 mean?
沈 (shěn) means a Chinese surname; the place-name element in 沈阳 (Shenyang).
How do you pronounce 沈?
It is pronounced shěn.
What parts is 沈 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 冘 (yín — an old character, today seen mainly as the right-hand sound part of 沈, 枕, 耽), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字：沈，陵上滈水也。从水冘聲（现代字形拆分对照笔顺数据核验：氵 3 画 + 冘 4 画 = 7 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 沈 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 沈?
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 沈?
Common ones are 沈阳. The reading of 沈 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.