蚕 (cán): silkworm

Measure Word

一条蚕 tiáo

Meanings

1 silkworm

Characters

蚕

cán

silkworm

Examples

HSK 4

养蚕是中国数千年来的传统。

Yǎng cán shì Zhōngguó shùqiān nián lái de chuántǒng.

Sericulture (silkworm farming) has been a Chinese tradition for thousands of years.

HSK 7-9

蚕吐丝结茧，用来制作丝绸。

Cán tǔ sī jié jiǎn, yònglái zhìzuò sīchóu.

Silkworms spin cocoons that are used to make silk.

Tips

history

China has cultivated silkworms for over 5,000 years. According to legend, Empress Leizu discovered silk when a cocoon fell into her tea. The Silk Road takes its name from China's monopoly on silk production for centuries.

memory

The poetic phrase 春蚕到死丝方尽 (the silkworm spins silk until death) is a classic metaphor for devoted love or tireless dedication.

Components

radical

虫 chóng

insect; bug

Bottom insect radical, originally a coiled snake, generalized to small creatures. Carries the meaning: 蚕 is the silkworm, the moth caterpillar that feeds on mulberry leaves and spins the cocoons used for silk. Same family: 蛾 moth, 蝶 butterfly, 蚊 mosquito, 蜂 bee.

semantic

天 tiān

sky; heaven

Top 天, a graphic substitute introduced in the 1956 simplification, replacing the doubled phonetic block of traditional 蠶. Carries no etymological 'sky' meaning here, but tradition reads it as a nod to the silkworm being a 'heaven-sent insect,' venerated in folk worship of 蚕神 the silkworm goddess.