Qīngmíngjié de shíhou, hěn duō rén qù jìbài zǔxiān.
At Qingming, many people go to pay their respects to their ancestors.
Sentence by WillyChina
How 祖先 is built
Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.
祖zǔancestor
礻sign form of 示 · shìMeaning part
且moreover · qiěSound part
礻 hints at the meaning (sign); 且 (qiě) hints at the sound. Compare it with zǔ.
先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier
先 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidA foot 止 out in front of a person 儿: ahead, first.
How to write 祖先
祖 9 strokes · 先 6 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 祖先 (zǔxiān). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
祖先 (zǔxiān) means “ancestor” or “forebear”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zǔxiān: zǔ with a 3rd tone, then xiān with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 祖先 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zuxian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 祖先 from the suggestions. Typing zuxian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
祖先 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.
祖zǔ3rd tone, dipping
先xiān1st tone, high and level
