赏 (shǎng): to admire; to enjoy; to appreci…

Meanings

1 to admire; to enjoy; to appreciate
2 to bestow; to reward

Characters

赏

shǎng

to admire; to reward; to appreciate

Examples

我们去赏月吧。

Wǒmen qù shǎngyuè ba.

Let's go admire the moon.

春天很适合赏花。

Chūntiān hěn shìhé shǎng huā.

Spring is a great time to enjoy flowers.

皇帝赏了他很多金子。

Huángdì shǎng le tā hěnduō jīnzi.

The emperor bestowed a lot of gold on him.

Tips

culture

赏月 (moon gazing) is a central tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节). 赏花 (flower viewing) is popular in spring, especially for cherry blossoms and plum blossoms.

usage

赏 has two distinct meanings: (1) to appreciate or admire (beauty, nature), and (2) to bestow or reward (from a superior to an inferior). The first meaning is more common in modern Chinese.

Components

radical

贝 bèi

cowrie shell; money

贝 is the cowrie-shell radical at the bottom - ancient currency before coinage. It marks 赏 as money-related: bestowing a reward, paying for excellence, valuing something monetarily. The shell family is huge: 财 wealth, 货 goods, 购 purchase, 贵 expensive, 贺 congratulate.

phonetic

尚 shàng

esteem; still (here phonetic)

尚 supplies the sound shàng → shǎng, a small tone shift. It also adds a soft semantic note - 尚 means esteem and high regard, fitting the idea of appreciating or bestowing a reward. Same phonetic series: 常 ordinary, 党 party, 堂 hall, 掌 palm.