杨 (yáng): poplar (tree)

Meanings

1 poplar (tree)
2 Yang (common Chinese surname)

Characters

杨

yáng

poplar tree; surname Yang

Examples

路两边种了很多杨树。

Lù liǎngbiān zhòng le hěnduō yángshù.

Many poplar trees were planted on both sides of the road.

杨老师教我们数学。

Yáng lǎoshī jiāo wǒmen shùxué.

Teacher Yang teaches us math.

Tips

culture

杨 is one of the most common Chinese surnames, ranking among the top 10. Famous bearers include Yang Liwei (杨利伟), China's first astronaut.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

木 (the tree radical) marks 杨 as a species of tree — the poplar — and groups it with 柳 (willow), 松 (pine), 桃 (peach) and the rest of the arboreal vocabulary. Surname 杨 keeps the same character but functions as a Chinese family name.

phonetic

昜 yáng

sun rising; bright (contracted form)

The right side is a heavily contracted form of 昜 — standalone 昜 has 9 strokes, but here it has been reduced to a 3-stroke abbreviation in modern simplified shape. The phonetic stem still gives the sound yáng cleanly, and the same compressed shape appears in 扬, 阳, 场.