申 (shēn) is a Chinese character meaning “to state”. It is written from 日 (sun; day) and 丨 (vertical stroke), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “to state; to apply”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
日 + 丨
Overlapping structure
Structure from: Unicode U+7533 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1-4 form 日; stroke 5 is one full-height 丨 running through it)
Memory aid
A boxed 日 sits in the middle, and a single vertical 丨 is driven straight through it from top to bottom — one line pinned through the box, like a statement pushed all the way up and all the way down the chain.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 申请shēn qǐngto apply for; application申 = shēn
- 申报shēn bàoto declare (goods, income); to report to a higher authority申 = shēn
Go deeper
All readings
to state; to apply
to state; to explain; to apply for (as in 申请, to apply); also the ninth of the twelve earthly branches
陈述、说明；用于「申请」「申报」等词，表示正式提出或上报。也是十二地支的第九位。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 申请shēn qǐngto apply for; application申 = shēn
- 申报shēn bàoto declare (goods, income); to report to a higher authority申 = shēn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 申 mean?
申 (shēn) means to state; to explain; to apply for (as in 申请, to apply); also the ninth of the twelve earthly branches.
How do you pronounce 申?
It is pronounced shēn.
What parts is 申 made of?
日 (sun; day) and 丨 (vertical stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+7533 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection (strokes 1-4 form 日; stroke 5 is one full-height 丨 running through it). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 申 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 申?
田. 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 申?
Common ones are 申请 and 申报. The reading of 申 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.