笙 (shēng) is a Chinese character meaning “sheng, a traditional Chinese wind instrument made of bamboo”. It is written from ⺮ (bamboo radical (top form of 竹)) and 生 (to be born; to grow; raw; life), one above the other, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “sheng (a reed mouth organ)”
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StartLearn this character
Structure
⺮ + 生
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 笙…从竹生声；现代字形拆分经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（⺮6画 + 生5画 = 11画）
Memory aid
Bamboo (⺮) pipes that give birth (生) to music — blow into them and a sheng, the Chinese mouth organ, comes alive.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 芦笙lú shēnglusheng, a reed-pipe wind instrument of the Miao, Dong and other peoples笙 = shēng
- 笙歌shēng gēmusic and singing (literally sheng-playing and song)笙 = shēng
Go deeper
All readings
sheng (a reed mouth organ)
sheng, a traditional Chinese wind instrument made of bamboo pipes set in a wind chest, played by blowing and drawing breath
一种传统管乐器，用若干根装有簧片的竹管插在斗子上，用口吹奏。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 芦笙lú shēnglusheng, a reed-pipe wind instrument of the Miao, Dong and other peoples笙 = shēng
- 笙歌shēng gēmusic and singing (literally sheng-playing and song)笙 = shēng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 笙 mean?
笙 (shēng) means sheng, a traditional Chinese wind instrument made of bamboo pipes set in a wind chest, played by blowing and drawing breath.
How do you pronounce 笙?
It is pronounced shēng.
What parts is 笙 made of?
⺮ (bamboo radical (top form of 竹)) and 生 (to be born; to grow; raw; life), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 笙…从竹生声；现代字形拆分经 hanzi-writer-data 笔画数据核验（⺮6画 + 生5画 = 11画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 笙 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 笙?
竹. 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 笙?
Common ones are 芦笙 and 笙歌. The reading of 笙 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.