臣 (chén) is a Chinese character meaning “an official or minister serving a monarch”. It is written from ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇗ (vertical-turning stroke), and takes 6 strokes.
Build the character for “official; minister”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
㇐ + ㇑ + ㇕ + ㇐ + ㇑ + ㇗
Overlapping structure
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- ㇕ horizontal-turning stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
- ㇑ vertical stroke unknown
- ㇗ vertical-turning stroke unknown
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形笔画拆分：第 1 与第 4 笔横、第 2 与第 5 笔短竖、第 3 笔横折、第 6 笔竖折）
Memory aid
The last stroke (㇗) drops down the left and runs along the floor, walling off a narrow stall. Inside it two flat bars (㇐) stack up, each with a short post (㇑) hanging under it, and one bar turns down at its right end (㇕) to close the upper box: an official standing to attention in his allotted place at court.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
6 strokes
In real words
- 大臣dà chénminister; high official serving a ruler臣 = chén
Go deeper
All readings
official; minister
an official or minister serving a monarch; a subject of a ruler
君主时代的官员；君主统治下的臣民。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 大臣dà chénminister; high official serving a ruler臣 = chén
Other characters with these parts
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 臣 mean?
臣 (chén) means an official or minister serving a monarch; a subject of a ruler.
How do you pronounce 臣?
It is pronounced chén.
What parts is 臣 made of?
㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇕ (horizontal-turning stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke) and ㇑ (vertical stroke) and ㇗ (vertical-turning stroke). The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（现代字形笔画拆分：第 1 与第 4 笔横、第 2 与第 5 笔短竖、第 3 笔横折、第 6 笔竖折）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 臣 have?
6. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 臣?
臣. 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 臣?
Common ones are 大臣. The reading of 臣 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.