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盛

shèng / chéng
adjective #10,989

Meanings

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

Examples

HSK 7-9
牡丹花盛开了。
Mǔdān huā shèngkāi le.
The peonies are in full bloom.
HSK 7-9
唐朝曾经是一个极其繁盛的时代。
Táng cháo céngjīng shì yīgè jíqí fánshèng de shídài.
The Tang dynasty was once an extremely flourishing era.
HSK 7-9
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