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盛

shèng / chéng
adjective #10,989

Meanings

  1. 1 flourishing
  2. 2 abundant
  3. 3 grand
  4. 4 vigorous

Examples

牡丹花盛开了。
Mǔdān huā shèngkāi le.
The peonies are in full bloom.
唐朝曾经是一个极其繁盛的时代。
Táng cháo céngjīng shì yī gè jíqí fánshèng de shídài.
The Tang dynasty was once an extremely flourishing era.
孩子们精力旺盛，从不知累。
Háizi men jīnglì wàngshèng, cóngbù zhī lèi.
The kids are full of energy and never tire.

Tips

usage
Polyphone. Read shèng for the abundance senses (flourishing, grand, vigorous) — this is the everyday HSK reading you'll meet in 盛大, 茂盛, 旺盛. Read chéng for the literal verb 'to ladle / fill a vessel with food or liquid' as in 盛饭 (dish out rice) or 盛水 (hold water). Surname Shèng exists but is rare.
memory
Same vessel 皿, two stories. Pile a bowl high until it's overflowing — that's shèng, abundance bursting out the top. Spoon food carefully into the same bowl — that's chéng, the quiet act of filling. Picture the bowl and ask 'overflowing or filling?' to pick the reading.

Components

radical
皿 mǐn
vessel; dish
Vessel radical at the bottom — an open bowl, marker for dishes and containers. Carries both readings: for chéng you spoon food into the vessel until full; for shèng a piled-high vessel becomes the picture of overflowing abundance. Family: 盆 (basin), 盘 (plate), 盖 (lid).
phonetic
成 chéng
complete; become
Top 成 supplies the sound — chéng directly for the verb reading 'to ladle into a vessel', and chéng shifted to shèng for the abundance reading. 成 itself pictures a halberd-and-stake, an image of consolidation reaching fullness — that flavour of 'brought to completion' faintly reinforces both senses: a vessel filled to the brim, or a state reaching its peak. Same phonetic in 城 (city) and 诚 (sincere).

Stroke Order

盛 shèng