矛 (máo): spear

Meanings

1 spear
2 lance

Characters

矛

máo

spear; pike

Examples

HSK 7-9

两名披甲的士兵站在门口，每人手持一杆长矛。

Liǎng míng pījiǎ de shìbīng zhàn zài ménkǒu, měi rén shǒuchí yī gān chángmáo.

Two soldiers in heavy armour stood at the gate, each holding a long spear.

Tips

memory

Pictograph of a spear - the character looks like a weapon, with the hook at the top as the barbed tip.

usage

矛 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. Most learners meet it inside 矛盾 (literally 'spear and shield' = contradiction) or 长矛 (lance).

Components

pictograph

矛 máo

spear; pike

Pictograph of a long spear standing point-up - the top hook is the curved barbed tip, the vertical stroke is the shaft, and the short flick midway is where the head is lashed to the pole. 矛 is itself a Kangxi radical (#110), indexing 矜 to pity and 矟 lance.

Radical

Spear Kangxi #110

A small radical group with very low productivity. The character itself is most learners' only encounter with it — usually inside the chengyu-flavoured compound 矛盾 (máodùn, 'spear and shield' = contradiction). Filed under 矛 are mainly classical military terms.