Read Edit View history Discussion 善 shàn HSK3 good Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents Basic Details Gloss Iconic Gloss Original Meaning Hint Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice). Pinyin Separate values with commas shàn × Add Simplified Variants Separate values with commas Add Traditional Variants Separate values with commas Add Variant Of Components Character ◎ Hint Type meaning sound iconic remnant simplified deleted distinguishing unknown Old pronunciation From original meaning Glyph changed 善 Simp strokes 善 Trad strokes Character ◎ Hint Type meaning sound iconic remnant simplified deleted distinguishing unknown Old pronunciation From original meaning Glyph changed 善 Simp strokes 善 Trad strokes + Add component Stroke Data 善 Stroke Data (Simp) — JSON { "source": "dong", "medians": [ [ [ 361, 781 ], [ 433, 743 ], [ 451, 715 ] ], [ [ 616, 835 ], [ 632, 804 ], [ 541, 718 ] ], [ [ 308, 649 ], [ 331, 641 ], [ 385, 640 ], [ 659, 681 ], [ 701, 680 ] ], [ [ 338, 544 ], [ 362, 537 ], [ 436, 538 ], [ 635, 573 ], [ 664, 568 ] ], [ [ 284, 451 ], [ 334, 440 ], [ 642, 480 ], [ 692, 481 ], [ 724, 472 ] ], [ [ 477, 626 ], [ 503, 604 ], [ 504, 589 ], [ 497, 317 ], [ 482, 302 ] ], [ [ 308, 386 ], [ 366, 338 ], [ 379, 317 ] ], [ [ 694, 392 ], [ 658, 397 ], [ 593, 317 ] ], [ [ 124, 251 ], [ 187, 233 ], [ 432, 268 ], [ 830, 305 ], [ 919, 275 ] ], [ [ 308, 173 ], [ 337, 152 ], [ 347, 131 ], [ 387, -29 ] ], [ [ 367, 173 ], [ 387, 161 ], [ 602, 199 ], [ 645, 197 ], [ 680, 166 ], [ 651, 85 ], [ 623, 67 ] ], [ [ 403, 2 ], [ 419, 17 ], [ 609, 38 ], [ 659, 36 ], [ 685, 27 ] ] ], "strokes": [ "M 384 745 Q 435 702 452 702 Q 462 703 465 716 Q 468 729 458 756 Q 446 780 376 788 Q 361 789 356 787 Q 352 783 354 771 Q 358 761 384 745 Z", "M 595 803 Q 576 772 535 724 Q 531 717 535 711 Q 542 710 549 714 Q 627 763 664 782 Q 680 786 677 797 Q 671 812 654 830 Q 636 846 615 849 Q 602 849 602 831 Q 603 818 595 803 Z", "M 525 636 Q 583 645 643 652 Q 700 662 709 669 Q 718 676 714 684 Q 708 697 680 705 Q 656 712 559 689 Q 418 662 316 659 Q 280 655 304 637 Q 343 610 397 620 Q 433 624 470 629 L 525 636 Z", "M 528 531 Q 661 555 669 558 Q 678 565 674 573 Q 668 585 642 593 Q 618 599 530 576 L 477 565 Q 414 555 346 553 Q 312 549 335 533 Q 362 512 448 521 Q 461 522 477 524 L 528 531 Z", "M 524 442 Q 563 448 715 460 Q 725 457 735 470 Q 736 482 715 493 Q 685 517 607 497 Q 570 491 532 484 Q 528 484 525 482 L 476 475 Q 430 471 390 467 Q 342 464 290 460 Q 262 459 282 440 Q 310 412 342 417 Q 403 427 476 436 L 524 442 Z", "M 518 298 Q 521 376 524 442 L 525 482 Q 526 507 528 531 L 530 576 Q 533 627 531 631 Q 528 634 525 636 C 507 660 463 658 470 629 Q 476 611 477 565 L 477 524 Q 477 503 476 475 L 476 436 Q 476 378 476 293 C 476 263 517 268 518 298 Z", "M 311 360 Q 348 309 374 297 Q 387 294 396 305 Q 402 315 400 331 Q 391 370 324 392 Q 311 398 302 395 Q 296 394 297 383 Q 298 373 311 360 Z", "M 602 307 Q 662 359 694 380 Q 710 386 705 396 Q 698 409 678 425 Q 659 441 637 440 Q 624 439 626 420 Q 632 401 572 304 C 556 278 579 287 602 307 Z", "M 509 254 Q 749 275 854 265 Q 918 262 924 267 Q 931 280 919 292 Q 891 320 847 340 Q 832 346 806 338 Q 736 323 665 314 Q 631 311 602 307 L 572 304 Q 541 303 518 298 L 476 293 Q 359 283 299 275 Q 229 265 126 264 Q 113 264 111 253 Q 110 240 129 226 Q 145 213 176 201 Q 188 197 205 205 Q 221 211 295 223 Q 391 244 509 254 Z", "M 357 175 Q 345 181 315 184 Q 302 187 299 181 Q 292 174 302 158 Q 332 104 353 15 Q 357 -12 374 -29 Q 395 -51 399 -34 Q 403 -22 402 -5 L 396 32 Q 380 111 375 141 C 370 170 370 170 357 175 Z", "M 669 54 Q 696 126 728 146 Q 747 165 732 184 Q 660 245 602 222 Q 506 192 357 175 C 327 172 345 136 375 141 Q 385 142 397 145 Q 497 161 593 176 Q 618 180 628 170 Q 637 163 634 144 Q 627 99 615 62 C 606 33 658 26 669 54 Z", "M 402 -5 Q 447 10 681 16 Q 691 17 694 26 Q 695 35 669 54 L 615 62 L 614 62 Q 493 40 396 32 C 366 29 373 -13 402 -5 Z" ] } 12 strokes 善 Stroke Data (Trad) — JSON { "source": "animcjk", "medians": [ [ [ 359, 778 ], [ 430, 746 ], [ 453, 708 ] ], [ [ 614, 846 ], [ 635, 796 ], [ 540, 719 ] ], [ [ 304, 649 ], [ 707, 691 ] ], [ [ 337, 534 ], [ 671, 558 ] ], [ [ 476, 632 ], [ 505, 604 ], [ 498, 451 ] ], [ [ 280, 433 ], [ 731, 458 ] ], [ [ 305, 382 ], [ 388, 299 ] ], [ [ 631, 424 ], [ 659, 384 ], [ 581, 302 ] ], [ [ 117, 252 ], [ 185, 231 ], [ 821, 303 ], [ 922, 279 ] ], [ [ 300, 178 ], [ 342, 148 ], [ 382, -34 ] ], [ [ 359, 167 ], [ 655, 193 ], [ 685, 149 ], [ 628, 49 ] ], [ [ 393, 19 ], [ 689, 28 ] ] ], "strokes": [ "M384,745C419,718 440,702 452,702C458,703 463,708 465,716C467,725 465,739 458,756C450,773 422,784 376,788C366,790 359,789 356,787C352,785 351,779 354,771C355,765 367,758 384,745Z", "M595,803C582,783 561,757 535,724C531,720 530,714 535,711C539,709 544,712 549,714C601,747 638,771 664,782C674,787 679,790 677,797C673,808 665,819 654,830C642,842 629,848 615,849C606,850 601,843 602,831C602,823 600,813 595,803Z", "M519,637C557,642 603,649 643,654C681,660 703,667 709,671C715,676 716,681 714,686C709,695 698,702 680,707C664,712 624,705 559,691C465,672 383,665 316,661C291,660 287,651 304,639C329,621 360,617 397,622C420,626 445,628 470,631C503,635 503,635 519,637Z", "M528,523C617,536 664,548 669,550C675,554 676,560 674,565C670,573 659,581 642,585C626,590 589,581 530,568C495,561 495,561 477,557C435,549 391,548 346,545C323,544 320,537 335,525C353,512 397,506 477,516C511,521 511,521 528,523Z", "M525,464C525,481 527,507 528,523C529,553 529,553 530,568C531,622 547,618 519,637C505,645 465,647 470,631C474,619 477,588 477,557C477,530 477,530 477,516C477,477 477,477 477,457C477,441 525,448 525,464Z", "M715,442C745,445 742,459 715,475C691,489 659,491 607,479C582,474 547,468 525,464C493,459 493,459 477,457C414,448 348,447 290,442C271,441 268,436 282,422C300,405 320,396 342,399C465,418 609,435 715,442Z", "M311,354C335,320 356,299 374,291C382,289 390,292 396,299C400,306 401,315 400,325C394,351 368,372 324,386C315,390 308,391 302,389C298,389 296,385 297,377C297,371 302,363 311,354Z", "M602,305C642,340 668,356 690,370C700,374 704,380 701,386C696,395 687,405 674,415C661,426 647,431 633,430C624,430 620,423 622,410C626,398 612,366 572,301C567,292 594,299 602,305Z", "M509,252C669,266 782,269 854,263C895,260 921,261 924,265C929,273 927,282 919,290C900,309 875,325 847,338C836,343 823,341 806,336C759,325 670,315 602,305C582,302 582,302 572,301C482,290 385,282 299,273C252,269 194,263 126,262C117,262 111,259 111,251C109,243 116,235 129,224C139,217 154,207 176,199C182,197 193,199 205,203C215,208 245,212 295,221C359,234 430,246 509,252Z", "M357,175C349,179 334,182 315,184C306,186 301,185 299,181C295,176 295,169 302,158C322,123 340,75 353,15C356,-2 362,-17 374,-29C388,-43 395,-45 399,-34C401,-25 403,-16 402,-5C398,20 398,20 396,32C392,53 378,121 375,141C373,154 369,170 357,175Z", "M669,54C687,102 708,131 728,146C742,157 743,174 732,184C685,227 641,236 602,222C538,201 456,187 357,175C344,172 362,138 375,141C381,142 388,144 397,145C463,157 529,166 593,176C609,179 621,177 628,170C633,165 636,157 634,144C629,114 623,87 615,62C608,45 662,37 669,54Z", "M402,-5C432,5 525,12 681,16C687,17 692,20 694,26C695,32 686,42 669,54C654,65 633,66 615,62C536,45 460,38 396,32C384,32 390,-7 402,-5Z" ] } 12 strokes Historical Pronunciations Source baxter-sagartzhengzhangtang Middle Chinese Old Chinese Gloss + Add historical pronunciation Sources × Quick add: 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》李学勤《字源》zi.toolsChinese Text Project許進雄《簡明中國文字學》 + Add source Verified Edit Comment (required) Submit Edit Note: The form works without JavaScript but the tag/list editors are simplified.