p8nda
p8nda BETA
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兴

興
xīng / xìng
verb #8,238

Meanings

  1. 1 to rise; to flourish
  2. 2 to start; to set up
  3. 3 to become popular; to be in vogue

Examples

这个城市很兴旺。
Zhège chéngshì hěn xīngwàng.
This city is thriving.
国家兴建了很多高铁。
Guójiā xīngjiàn le hěnduō gāotiě.
The country has built many new high-speed rail lines.
这种风格这几年才兴起来。
Zhèzhǒng fēnggé zhè jǐnián cái xīng qǐlái.
This style became popular only in recent years.

Tips

mistakes
兴 has two readings. As xīng it means rise / flourish / start: 兴旺 (prosperous), 复兴 (revival), 兴奋 (excited). As xìng it means interest / mood: 高兴 (happy), 兴趣 (interest). Note 兴奋 is xīng but 高兴 is xìng even though both feel like 'excitement'.
memory
Tie the reading to the feeling: when something is being built up or taking off it is xīng (action, outward energy); when it is about how you feel inside it is xìng (mood, the same root as 高兴).

Components

radical
八 bā
eight; to separate (bottom radical)
Bottom indexing radical 八, two diverging strokes, originally a splitting motion (the source of 'eight'). Here it sits as a stylised base, the two splayed feet under the rising figure. The placement is somewhat arbitrary after simplification; the pre-reform form was indexed under 臼.
semantic
⺍ xiǎo
small dots; raised hands (top radical-form)
Top three dots, the radical-supplement form sometimes called 'small dots' or 'raised hands'. In 兴 they are the simplified residue of four hands raising up an object: traditional 興 had hands gripping and lifting. The dots preserve the lifting-hands imagery in compressed form.
ideograph
一 yī
one; horizontal bar (middle)
Middle single horizontal, representing the object being lifted by the hands above. In traditional 興 this slot held a more complex middle with a framed core; the 1956 simplification flattened everything to one bar. A clean dividing line between hands and base.

Stroke Order

兴 xīng