tǎng
verb HSK 4 #1,295

Meanings

  1. 1 to lie down; to recline

Examples

Tā tǎng zài chuáng shang kàn shū.
He's lying on the bed reading.
Nǐ lèi le jiù tǎng yīhuìr ba.
If you're tired, lie down for a bit.
Cǎodì shang tǎng zhe jǐ gè rén.
A few people are lying on the grass.

Tips

usage
Body-position verbs: (stand), (sit), (lie down), (lie face down). specifically means lying on your back or side.
culture
躺平 ("lying flat") became a viral social-movement term around 2021 in China, describing young people opting out of the intense work culture and competitive rat race.

Components

radical
shēn
body
Body radical on the left — pictograph of a pregnant woman in profile, the swelling belly visible. The indexing radical anchors in the body-action family alongside dodge, torso, shoot. To is to lay the whole body down, so the radical does the heavy work.
phonetic
shàng
still; esteem (here phonetic)
Right side supplies the sound: shàng drifted to tǎng with regular sh/t alternation in older Chinese. Same phonetic family includes tǎng (if), tǎng (flow down), tàng (a trip) — all sharing the tǎng/tàng vowel. The shàng-tǎng pair illustrates classic Chinese onset substitution.

In Pop Culture

躺平 tǎngpíng
Lying flat
'lying flat' — rejecting overwork culture, embracing minimalism

Stroke Order

tǎng