Meaning
river; creek; plain; an area of level country
Chinese: 河流。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “chuan” becomes a different word in each tone. 川 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 川流不息chuān liú bù xīthe stream flows without stopping (idiom); unending flow
- 山川shān chuānmountains and rivers; landscape
- 平川píng chuānan expanse of flat land
- 川资chuān zītravel expenses
- 百川bǎi chuānrivers
Example Sentence
四川是中国的一个省。Sì chuān shì Zhōng guó de yí ge shěng.Sichuan is a province in China.
四Sìfour川chuānshort name for Sichuan 四川是shìis中国Zhōng guóChina的deof一个yí gea省shěngto save。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Three flowing lines side by side, like the banks and current of a stream. It means ‘river / stream’.
A way to remember it
Three lines of running water — a river.
Easy to confuse with
- 州‘Province’: 川 with dots added between the lines — settled land in the river.