唐 (Táng) · Tang (dynasty), Tang (surname)

Meanings

1 Tang (dynasty)
2 Tang (surname)
3 boastful; exaggerated

Characters

唐

Táng

Tang (dynasty/surname)

Examples

HSK 1

唐先生在吗？

Táng xiānsheng zài ma?

Is Mr. Tang here?

HSK 6

唐朝是中国历史上最繁荣的朝代之一。

Tángcháo shì Zhōngguó lìshǐ shàng zuì fánróng de cháodài zhīyī.

The Tang Dynasty was one of the most prosperous dynasties in Chinese history.

Tips

culture

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) is considered China's golden age. Overseas Chinese communities are called 唐人街 (Chinatown, literally 'Tang people street').

memory

唐 contains 口 (mouth) and 庚 - think of the Tang Dynasty's famous poets speaking great words from their mouths.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

Bottom-right mouth radical - the indexing radical (Kangxi #30). Carries the semantic core: 唐's earliest sense was 'big talk, exaggerated speech' (preserved in 荒唐 'absurd'), an action of the mouth. Same radical anchors 吃, 喝, 叫, 吧 - the speech-and-eating family.

semantic

广 yǎn

shelter; lean-to

Top wrapping 广 (shelter) - historically marked 'enclosed space.' In 唐 it caps the older 庚 phonetic (which has split into 广 above + the 肀-shape below) - together the residue of phonetic 庚. The whole char is indexed under Kangxi #30 口 (mouth) - the mouth radical at the bottom.

semantic

肀 yù

brush; writing implement (here graphic remnant)

Middle 4 strokes - graphically a 肀-shape, originally the lower body of phonetic 庚 (a sounding-instrument). Pedagogically a bridge between the 广 shelter above and the 口 mouth below; the etymology was 'big talk in a resonant hollow,' from which 唐 took both 'boastful' and (via borrow) the Tang dynasty name.