衅 (xìn) is a Chinese character meaning “quarrel”. It is written from 血 (blood) and 半 (half), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “quarrel; provocation”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
血 + 半
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 核验：左「血」6 笔 + 右「半」5 笔 = 11 笔；「衅」为「釁」的简化字形，右部「半」的构形理据未核实
Memory aid
Blood (血) spilled over half (半) of something — that is how a quarrel, a provocation, begins.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 挑衅tiǎoxìnto provoke; provocation衅 = xìn
- 寻衅xúnxìnto pick a quarrel; to look for trouble衅 = xìn
Go deeper
All readings
quarrel; rift
quarrel; dispute; rift; provocation
争端；嫌隙。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 挑衅tiǎoxìnto provoke; provocation衅 = xìn
- 寻衅xúnxìnto pick a quarrel; to look for trouble衅 = xìn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 衅 mean?
衅 (xìn) means quarrel; dispute; rift; provocation.
How do you pronounce 衅?
It is pronounced xìn.
What parts is 衅 made of?
血 (blood) and 半 (half), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 核验：左「血」6 笔 + 右「半」5 笔 = 11 笔；「衅」为「釁」的简化字形，右部「半」的构形理据未核实. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 衅 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 衅?
血. 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 衅?
Common ones are 挑衅 and 寻衅. The reading of 衅 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.