杨 (yáng) · poplar (tree), Yang (common Chinese surname)

Meanings

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

Characters

杨

yáng

poplar tree; surname Yang

Examples

HSK 3

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.

HSK 3

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.