Meaning
up; above; on; to go to
Chinese: 位置较高，或表示前往、开始、增加。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shang” becomes a different word in each tone. 上 is the 4th 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
- 身上shēn shangon the body; at hand; among
- 晚上wǎn shangevening; night; in the evening
- 马上mǎ shàngat once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force)
- 早上zǎo shangearly morning
- 上班shàng bānto go to work; to be on duty; to start work; to go to the office
Example Sentence
早上，孩子背着书包去上学。Zǎo shang, hái zi bēi zhe shū bāo qù shàng xué.In the morning, the child carries a schoolbag and goes to school.
早上Zǎo shangearly morning，孩子hái zichild背着bēi zhecarrying on one's back书包shū bāoschoolbag去qùto go上学shàng xuéto go to school。
Memory Note
The short mark sits above the baseline, directly showing the idea of up or above.
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
An indicative character (not a picture): a mark placed above a baseline to mean ‘up / above’. Its mirror image is 下 ‘down’.
A way to remember it
A short stroke sitting on top of the line — above.
Easy to confuse with
- 下‘Down / below’: the same idea flipped — the mark hangs below the line.