朝 (cháo): towards; facing; in the directi…

Meanings

1 towards; facing; in the direction of
2 imperial court; government
3 dynasty; reign of an emperor
4 to make a pilgrimage to
5 Korea (abbr. for 朝鲜)

Characters

朝

cháo

towards; court; dynasty

Examples

HSK 2

他朝我走过来了。

Tā cháo wǒ zǒu guòlái le.

He walked towards me.

HSK 4

窗户朝南。

Chuānghu cháo nán.

The window faces south.

HSK 5

唐朝是中国历史上很重要的朝代。

Tángcháo shì Zhōngguó lìshǐ shàng hěn zhòngyào de cháodài.

The Tang Dynasty was a very important dynasty in Chinese history.

Tips

usage

As a preposition (朝 + place/person), it marks the direction an action faces - close to 向 but more colloquial. As a noun it means imperial court and, by extension, the dynasty ruling from it: 唐朝, 清朝.

memory

The path from morning to dynasty: officials gathered before the emperor at daybreak - the 'morning audience' (朝见). That meeting place became the 朝廷 (court), and the ruling house came to be called a 朝. Same character, second tone for the political senses.

Components

radical

月 yuè

moon

Right 月 - also the indexing radical. In the dawn picture it shows the setting moon as the sun climbs through the grass on the left: sun rising, moon fading. Same radical family as 期 and 望.

semantic

龺 gàn

sun rising through grass (graphic)

Left 8-stroke stack - historically a picture of the sun (日) rising amid grass, capturing the moment of daybreak. The original sense was 'dawn'; the court and dynasty meanings come from the morning audience held at sunrise.